Tennis
Small Sound EP
Communion Records
4 out of 5 stars
Denver’s dreamy nostalgic pop duo Tennis was famously born aboard the couple’s 30-foot sloop during a seven-month sailing trip, and their latest five-song EP is as open as the rolling seas.
The group has seen massive success with previous releases debuting at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseeker Chart, CMJ’s Top 200 and Soundscan’s New Artist Chart. Plus, they’ve made the circuit of Letterman, Leno and Conan.
There’s a good reason for that attention. Even if sing-songy pop isn’t your bag, there’s an undeniable catchiness to Tennis’s songs, and with producers Richard Swift (Foxygen, The Shins) and Jim Eno (Spoon, Gayngs) helping in the studio, the band puts forth some incredibly strong tunes filled with hooks, catchy rhythmic melodies and singer Alaina Moore’s delightful vocals.
The group said that this EP is simply a pre-cursor for a spring 2014 full length that they are already working on in the studio. Tennis hasn’t changed too drastically on this new release, but tracks like “Mean Streets” and “Timothy” present an openness and approachable style that may have to do with the couple’s recent time spent in Nashville, where they worked on the EP.
Yes, it’s pop. Yes, they’ve blown up and are fully “on the radar,” but those indicators of success for the Denver duo seem to be good things, for once.
To hear Small Sound click here
