The songs of Young & Old are slightly ragged romances.
Tennis – Young & Old (2012) – 6.5/10
Fat Possum Records
The title of Tennis’ new album – Young & Old – epitomizes the time
travel experience it offers its listeners. Riding on a similar pacific wave as Best
Coast with their previous album Cape Dory, Alaina Moore and Patrick Ricky
present us with a patchwork in which each song is both hymn to the folk of
the 60′s and 70′s and a case in point of how indie pop is thriving – like musical
alchemists the duo turns Old into Young. The candid guitar riffs and ethereal
choruses however blend old into new so well that the album has a tendency to
become more of a uniform quilt than a multicolor patchwork.
The main feature of the album is definitely Alaina’s slightly echoing
voice that recalls the bell bottom chimeras of the late 70′s conjured up by
those memorable voices such as Stevie Nicks’ in “Dreaming” and “Take me to
Heaven” – both tracks are underpinned by ethereal guitar riffs and a soft rhythm.
Contrasting with most the album, “Take Me to Heaven” makes it possible to
completely appreciate the fullness of Alaina’s voice, which no longer brings
to mind a teenager skipping around in white tennis sneakers, but paints the
portrait of a bittersweet indie rock icon. However if there had to be a reference
to feminine voice for the track “It all feels the same” I would move away from
the mythical ones of the 70′s in favor of She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel with a
head voice, very typical of love songs maybe too much so had it not been for the
distorted guitar riff that gives the track a rock’n’roll twist. The songs of Young &
Old are slightly ragged romances.
The first tracks would be the more vivid spots of the patchwork –
namely “My Better Self” whose punchy beat brings to mind a more lively
rendering of Coldplay’s “In My Place”, along with “Origins” that brings the
much appreciated bitter tang to a very sweet album- once more a distorted
guitar riff gives the song more depth. One might say that “Origins” “My Better
Self” and “Traveling” form a triptych that reveals a disenchantment of sorts,
candidly hidden behind aerial melodies and choruses qualified by minor chord
progressions in these tracks. “Never to Part” would embody the final revelation
of how heartbroken Tennis and their musical characters really are, being the
most rock-sounding track.
The second outstanding feature of Young & Old is clearly the lyrics that
are a case in point of how the album is like candy with a sweet coating and a
tart center. As Alaina sings “Sensitive heart, you’re doomed from the start/
meant to play the penitent part” what Tennis is very skillfully doing is offering a
smokescreen of a lyrical love ballad thanks to the melody all the while conveying
a very fatalist message – a contrast that makes it even more bittersweet. Hats off
to a very poetic duo.
To sum up, the only regret would be the lack of those unexpected bright
patches. If “High Road” had to have a visual equivalent it would be that of a slow
motion merry-go-round – a very repetitious track in other words – whereas
the album could have benefited from a roller-coaster track. It would be a great
shame for the 1st track’s title – “It All Feels the Same” – to become representative
of how the album ages.
