Artist: Tennis
Album: Cape Dory
Label: Fat Possum Records
Release Date: January 18, 2011
History
Well, this is easy. I don’t have any history with this band. Somewhere I heard about their 2011 release. I read more about it on a review a friend wrote for the site Veoba. I read the review. I downloaded the CD. Then I saw it at Vintage Vinyl and bought it because they were out of the Destroyer CD (which I just finally bought at Euclid Records today)
Review
So I’d read good things. The idea of a husband/wife duo always sounds appealing to me (see: Mates of State). I generally like cute pop music. I downloaded the album and put it on on my headphones at work. I started it and kept working. It sounded pleasant enough.
A little over an hour later, I found myself thinking “This album is pleasant and everything but i is all kind of sounding the same and somewhat familiar.” After clicking over to iTunes, I found out I was midway through my third listen. The album is only 28 minutes long. That explains things. And that pretty well describes how I feel about the album. It is pleasant, completely unoffensive, and rarely demands your full attention.
But there is a standout track in this sea of hazy beach pop drone. Track 4, Marathon, sounds (and I sincerely mean this as a compliment in this case) like it was made for an iPod commercial. It’s got a great doo-wop sound that is fun, authentic and has catchy. This track nearly redeems the whole album. Everything else for the most part is just different degrees of dreamy pop music.
The vocals are always nice. The melodies are always soothing. But there’s nothing about it that grabs you and says “listen to me!” Maybe I’ll throw this in the “Save for a lazy weekend on Lake Michigan in Arcadia” bin. I think it might suit that type of atmosphere better.
Rating
1 out of 2
mangosquash 
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