@review  BUDDY PINNEO

Tennis
Young & Old
RELEASED: February 14, 2012

Get ready to fall in love. From the very first moment of Young & Old, you’ll be enraptured by this second full-length release from Tennis, a husband and wife duo from Denver.

Tennis is described by many as “indie pop,” but that overly generalizes what Aliana Moore and Patrick Riley are really doing musically.

Their sound is heavily immersed in the tradition of early 1960s popular music. Light, but spirited surfer-style guitars. Retro organs, cheerful piano melodies, irresistibly catchy percussion, gorgeous vocals from Moore – it’s all here – with wall-of-sound reverb covering everything in romantic, cinematic, nostalgic bliss.

The result is simply transporting, with the production sounding as if it was recorded in another time and place. This comes as no real surprise, however, when you learn that the man producing the album is none other than Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, easily one of the best retro-chic acts on the current musical landscape.

Starting things off is “It All Feels The Same,” which opens with simple guitar strumming and tambourine, and from the opening lines of “took a train to…took a train to get to you,” Moore will have you hooked. The drums are soon added and the song builds and builds, eventually bursting into a steady groove that will have fans of bands like Stereolab feeling giddy.

Next up is “Origins,” the album’s first official single. Based on steadily chopping piano chords, it’s a moody mid-tempo number that will make you think of rainy days in Paris.

The bittersweet vibe continues on “My Better Self,” which lyrically seems to be pondering the meaning of love, acknowledging its delicateness, but doing so in a beautifully resigned way.

The energy rises again on “Traveling,” whose “do-do-do’s” assure you that no musical guilty pleasure will go unexplored with Tennis. On “Petition,” Moore’s vocal agility is an eye-opening standout. And so it goes, across this ten-song set of pop perfection, which will take you on the rise and fall of romance in the best ways imaginable.

You can clearly see why Moore and Riley are married. And that they love what they’re doing. Go ahead. Fall for Tennis. You know you want to. It’s audio cherry cheesecake.

5 stars.