Sixth album Pollen is out on 10th February and it promises to be another much needed burst of sunshine, this time transporting the listener back to the 1980s. Second single Let's Make A Mistake Tonight came out earlier this month and it's another dose of pop perfection.
Given the band name, a casual internet search will throw up all sorts of musical red herrings: Jack Tennis, Tennis Pagan, Hooton Tennis Club (remember them?) and the official Tennis website does little more than advertise merch, tour dates and social media links. YouTube is a reliable treasure trove though, not limited to Tennis' own channel.
Tennis sound pretty good live too, as this 2020 performance "In The Void" of How To Forgive demonstrates.
They can also do a good turn at stripped down indie guitar tunes too. 2014 single Bad Girls retains echoes of their second album Young & Old, which was produced by The Black Keys' Patrick Carney.
In fact, it was The Black Keys that first introduced me to Tennis back in 2014, with their compilation CD The Black Keys And Friends, given away free with Mojo magazine. This currently remains the sole song in my collection by Tennis. Taken from Young & Old, here's a gripping live performance of It All Feels The Same for the eTown online radio show from March 2013.
Coming back to the present and forthcoming album Pollen, Tennis' lead single was released in December, another should-have-been massive tune called One Night With The Valet. It's lush, cascading sound and cheesy-but-cool video belie the fact that the song is over and done in under two minutes.
Tennis have been releasing music since 2010 so I have a bit of catching up to do but the back catalogue shopping starts now.
"Yours Conditionally" (2017) is the only one of theirs I have apart from the odd track. I classified it as good enough to keep, not good enough to go out and buy all their others.
ReplyDeleteAs it happens, Yours Conditionally was one of two Tennis albums (the other being 2020's Summer) that I purchased on the back of this post. I think I may end up agreeing with you, Ernie, but each CD was less than the price of a cup of coffee (South West England prices anyway) so I had nothing to lose.
DeleteDefinitely worth a cup of coffee, even at London prices
DeleteOn a first listen to both albums, Ernie, I've had a similar reaction to you. I was... whelmed, neither over or under, just... whelmed. I'll give them a few more listens. Impressed by their brevity, though.
DeleteTennis are one of those bands who I enjoy every single time I hear them, yet don't own a single thing by, except perhaps a download or two. I should probably remedy that situation. Pick of the bunch from this selection for me is the great live performance of It All Feels The Same.
ReplyDeleteThanks, TS. Another case of so much music, so little time, I think. I realised that David Crosby was "one of those" artists when Swiss Adam posted his excellent tribute mix at the weekend. Until the mid-late 2000s, Bob Dylan was another.
DeleteI'm looking forward to hearing the two Tennis albums currently winging their way to me via Royal Mail and I agree that the live performance of It All Feels The Same is the highlight here.