Tegan and Sara (finally) made a lot of noise a few years back with Sainthood, the band’s 2009 full-length. The Canadian sister-duo’s signature brand of emotion-filled indie rock took six albums and ten whole years to find an audience worthy of the greatness of their music. I believed that my first exposure to Tegan and Sara came when I too was wowed by Sainthood a few months after its release, but So Jealous has made me realize otherwise. Once again, Jack White has found a way into my musical life.
On a summer of 2007 road trip, my family’s obsession with the White Stripes was just beginning. With copies of Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump in the CD player, we were all quickly falling in love with Jack & Meg. While on this road trip, I desperately needed a haircut, so we pulled off the highway and into a mall with a Great Clips. One terrible buzz cut later, we ventured over to the complex’s Barnes & Noble. I, because I am that guy, headed straight for the music section. I convinced my dad to get all of The White Stripes’ music in the store that we didn’t already have, assuring him that I’d pay him back (psych). We hit the road with a copy of a post Satan EP called Walking With a Ghost.
Little did I know that title track wasn’t an original work of Jack’s. It sounds so much like something that he could have written that I always assumed it was a White Stripes B-Side. Tegan and Sara’s So Jealous has proven otherwise. When track 8 on this album got going, I couldn’t believe my ears. All these years, I’ve been listening to the inferior version of Walking With a Ghost. Not even a trademark Jack White falsetto can make that cover better than what I just heard.
So Jealous works really well, and only adds to my confusion regarding Tegan and Sara’s lack of notoriety pre-Sainthood. This album is just as good as any of their more recent work. The music industry is a weird thing.
Swole Ear 
I’m with you here Mr. Ear. This version is much more pleasing than the one by The White Stripes.