Young And Old is the latest offering from the Denver sweet hearts known as Tennis. Stylistically, the band is known for having embraced the rebirth of surf rock- and riding that wave into the open arms of the indie pop music scene. The band formed after Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, a husband and wife duo, returned from a seven month excursion ripe with sailing, adventure, and handfuls of songs documenting their experiences. They teamed up with the engineer who worked on their first record, James Barone (drums), to complete the lineup and began touring under the name Tennis- a joke about Patrick’s sportsmanship during his college years.
With Young And Old, the band maintains their tribute to past styles of music but veers from the path they paved on Cape Dory with their clean guitar driven sounds. While they have not abandoned their signature feel yet, songs like “Petition” (which reminds me of the girl lead equivalent to MuteMath‘s “Allies”), “Origins”, and “Traveling” all incorporate synthetic textures and leads that exchange the band’s surf rock roots for danceable grooves, reminiscent of Motown, that make you want to move your body. The song writing is still killer, personal, and catchy but seems to be growing and maturing, sampling later decades of influence than their previous releases.
The record was produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, which may account for some of the band’s slight change in sound. The production value of the record is notable because when the band nods to the style of a specific decade with their performance, the record changes in quality enough to sound almost true to that time… without giving up the feeling of unity from track to track. Overall the record is really well done. It’s catchy, danceable, and unique. Tennis has always stood apart from the crowd, but Young And Old puts them in a league of their own.
Young And Old is set to release on February 14th 2012 and is available for pre-order HERE.
Stream Only: Tennis – Traveling
Stream Only: Tennis – Origins
Stream Only: Tennis – My Better Self
