Audio By Carbonatix
A band named Tennis has to be a bunch of Ivy League 20-somethings with penchants for deck shoes and cable-knit sweaters, right? No, bands full of those guys usually feature names inspired by monsters — vampires, even. Tennis is actually Denver husband-and-wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. The two have been playing together for about a year now, yet their recently released debut, Cape Dory, has the indie blogosphere in a tizzy for good reason. Moore is the anti-Bethany Cosentino — her vocals run eerily similarly to the Best Coast singer’s — and she’s in an indie/pop rock duo that features cherubically delightful three-minute songs. Yet Alaina Moore’s vocals can actually sound just a smidgen different every once in a while — something Cosentino fails to accomplish. The time is right for bands in the style of Tennis, as ’60s AM radio-inspired duos who write songs inspired by the sea can only be intriguing for so long. Thank goodness, however, that Tennis has nary a problem keeping things fresh and appealing, creating music that is — at its core — a whole lot of fun to listen to.
