CD Review: Tennis

Young & Old (Fat Possum)

Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 4:00 am

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If someone says their album sounds like "Stevie Nicks going through a Motown phase," the inclination is to stay far, far away from it. But the Denver indie-rock trio Tennis — whose 2011 debut, Cape Dory, came out of a seven-month sailing trip the husband-and-wife bandleaders took after selling off their possessions — are worth sticking around for, even if that description is way off the mark. Produced by the Black Keys' Patrick Carney, Young & Old has more personality but is less focused than Cape Dory. But the freedom from sticking to a single subject opens up an ocean of possibilities, which singer Aliana Moore, guitarist Patrick Riley, and Carney readily explore. Whether striking out with a soft '60s shuffle on "It All Feels the Same" or slapping some fuzzy garage tones to the poppy "Origins," Tennis make their own sort of witchy pop. — Gallucci