Tegan and Sara show off pop smarts, new-wave sound

Tegan and Sara's fiercely devoted fans know by now that reinvention is a recurrent theme in the career of the Quin twins. Their 2002 CD ''If It Was You," for example, showcased a skewed pop act fascinated by melody and harmony, a far cry from the wordy, rhythm-driven Ani DiFranco imitations they explored two years earlier on ''This Business Of Art."

They played nothing from the latter album at the Middle East on Tuesday night, possibly because its verbosity wouldn't work well with the new-wave sound of the recent CD ''So Jealous." The new direction isn't a matter of changing things up simply to be contrary, though. Using the meat-and-potatoes drive of Rick Springfield's ''Jessie's Girl" as a touchstone rather than the synthetic distance of many Duran Duran-inspired new-wave revivalists, Tegan and Sara revealed an increasing mastery of pop dynamics.

''You Wouldn't Like Me" and ''Speak Slow" both fairly exploded when drummer Rob Chursinoff joined in at full power, and the three-guitar ''I Bet It Stung" churned up a nicely effective little storm. Older songs also benefited from the Quins' newfound sensibility. The opening ''This Is Everything" slowly swelled with a muted electric guitar pulse, keyboards, and reverbed vocals.

A few selections from ''If It Was You" were also refurbished with some early-'80s touches; ''Monday Monday Monday" gained a synthlike guitar line and danceable beat during the bridge, and ''Living Room" became more aggressive, with a quasi-reggae punk groove that might have fit on the Clash's ''Combat Rock."

If the live setting brought Tegan and Sara's pop smarts into sharp relief, it unfortunately muted their marvelous harmonies, which sound on record like cloned Alanis Morissettes singing the Everly Brothers. Instead, a type of prickly harmony was provided in their stage banter, which often built on the twins' affectionately contentious relationship. The best bit involved Sara explaining her absence at the start of the show; the band took the stage before realizing she was missing because of a situation innocent enough to be repeated here but embarrassing enough that it won't be.

Openers Rachel Cantu and Darren Hanlon each played variations on the acoustic troubadour. Hanlon, looking like he could be Russell Crowe's little brother, came off as an apolitical Billy Bragg. Local singer Cantu seemed more polished, but the crowd seemed evenly split between enthusiastic applause and apathetic chatter.

Tegan and Sara
With Rachel Cantu and Darren Hanlon
At: the Middle East Downstairs, Tuesday night