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Led Zeppelin locked themselves in a house and dabbled in the occult, with a bit of a pre-Raphaelite obsession thrown in for good measure. “Bon Iver” secluded himself in a winter cabin. However, this can work both ways: check out Arctic Monkey’s less than rapturously received ‘Humbug’ despite all the hype of Josh Homme producing it, or The Klaxons distinctly average second album, despite them being so drugged up during the production at one point they started taking orders from a piece of fruit. Tennis have a story that slots in with the best of these creation myths; the two members of the album, Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, got married and went sailing round the East Coast of America for eight months, a trip reflected in many of their song titles.
Geographically they hail from New York City, and bear a passing resemblence to their contemporaries The Drums, while a few of their fuzzier songs reminded me very much of their West Coast counterparts Girls. But they don’t have the former's savage bite, but neither are they as limpid as the latter can be in some of their softer moments. What they possess is nostalgia and bags of it. Not only do the guitar riffs bear a striking similarity to “The Stooges’” debut album, but the album art looks just like a 1950s postcard. ‘We’ll make a family in the quiet country” croons Moore on ‘South Carolina, one of the album’s sweetest songs, ‘You and me in deep simplicity’.
Most of the songs on ‘Cape Dory’ are like this – nostalgic, whimsical songs that yet retain a certain power. Moore’s voice is picturesque and just when you think you’ve had enough of fuzzy guitar along comes a stripped down song like ‘Bimini Bay’ which would be perfect background music for the film ‘From Here to Eternity’. Marathon is my personal favourite, showcasing voice and guitar skills equally in its call to go sailing. “I know a place by the sea” smiles Moore, “we could drift all day in the gentle day breeze”. Well, when you put it like that there’s really little choice in the matter.
There’s more than a little early “Beach Boys” in “Tennis’” debut album. While not exactly original, it’s a solid effort that should make its way onto many top 10 debut albums this year. There are no obvious drawbacks to ‘Cape Dory’ apart that on first listen some songs can sound rather repetitive. However, upon secondary listening they reveal themselves to be much more multi-faceted songs. An excellent bands and one that should be added to your ‘To-Buy’ list.
If you like this try Contra by Vampire Weekend, Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, and anything by The Drums
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