Tegan & Sara's Heartthrob Out Today

Tegan & Sara's new album Heartthrob is out today.

Admittedly, what's been made public thus far is a poppier effort than their previous work, but if they're into more synths and programmed beats than guitars these days I won't be the one to say it's wrong.

It's been an interesting evolution to be sure. The indie darlings have paid their dues and making music that's a bit more accessible to the mainstream is fine. Hopefully it pays off, but even if it doesn't they still seem to be happy with what they're doing.

Below are two songs they performed acoustically for a Billboard session.

The first is the lead single from Heartthrob, the infectious "Closer" and the second is the Cyndi Lauper hit "Time After Time".

I'll be the first to admit I never really cared that much for Cyndi Lauper, but this version of "Time After Time" proves it's actually a legitimately good song once it's stripped of it's studio sheen and 80s pop aesthetic.

So check these performances out and enjoy Tegan & Sara's new album.

EDIT: For whatever reason, Billboard has made it damn near impossible to properly post the embed code for these videos. No matter how I do it, there's a duplicate of one video or another and logging in with my blogger account hasn't helped. Here's the original story on their website.

"I Want to Announce My Presence With Authority."

First of all, I want to start off by thanking the Founding Fathers for bringing me along. I'm looking forward to stirring and simmering our individual interests, talents and points-of-view into a hearty stew of awesomeness.

There's no better way for me to kick-off my stint with the S&S team than with some serious rock. Below is a favorite track from some of rock's most iconic figures of late, Slash and Dave Grohl. Both Slash and Grohl have built massive careers by emerging from the shadows of two insanely popular rock 'n roll figureheads.

Beginning in 1985, Slash's signature wailing, soaring guitar sound played "second-fiddle" to the mega-ego of bandanna aficionado Axl Rose. Rose would eventually destroy G 'n R in the late 2000's, but luckily for Slash it seems unlikely that rock fans of the future will be playing "air frontman" to their laundry list of hits. Slash went on to co-found Velvet Revolver with Duff McKagan (also of Guns 'n Roses, and featured on bass in today's sample track). He has also launched a successful solo career and was named #2 on Time Magazine's list of "10 Best Electric Guitar Players of All-time" in 2009.

Dave Grohl was just the long-haired kid behind the drum kit when he joined Nirvana in 1990. In reality, he was probably just a nameless face when taking the stage behind teen angst savior Kurt Cobain. Quick - somebody name Nirvana's bassist. Unless you're a true rock-head, you probably can't (Krist Novoselic has become more well-known for his political activism than his time on the four-string). When Cobain took his own life in 1994, Dave Grohl carried on the musical legacy, creating Foo Fighters in 1995. Since then, Grohl has been involved with Them Crooked Vultures, Queens of the Stone Age and over 30 other bands in one capacity or another.

On "Watch This" Slash does what he does best, grabbing the reins and steering the song into rock glory over the fueled rhythm of Grohl drumming. If you listen closely you can still hear the kicking and screaming of everything that was once good about American heavy rock: a percusive beat demanding you to bang your head and mesmerizing guitar scooping you up to carry you away. Crank it up and put the pedal down.

Song Of The Day - June 30, 2008

Hello and welcome again ladies and gents. As promised in our welcome post each day we will deliver a song of the day to your internet browser. Music is a passion of ours that we we would like to share with all of you, so feel blessed.

Since this is the inaugural song of the day we've decided to present it in video format!

And now without any further adieu... the music Gods present to you:

"Garage Band Anthem" by Cutting Room Floor, the ninth track on their newly released album entitled In Our Luck. *Special thanks goes out to Mark Wurzelbacher for helping us out with the piano track. 

Here's how everything turned out. Let us know what you think!

Cutting Room Floor Montage

* - Mark took the time out of his busy schedule to help me with a project for my Music Technology class at ND. I recorded several takes of Mark on the keys and edited them, ironically enough, with the Garage Band program on my Mac. After adding effects to the audio track I set it to a movie slide show of CRF pictures using iMovie.