The Record Crate

We have literally been waiting for Tennis’ freshman debut since the peak of last summer. When they released “Marathon” and “Baltimore” this past July, their sound seemed to be the answer to whatever question we had been asking ourselves all year. To add on to this itch for new material, seeing them live only made us want this album to come out more.

Having simply not enough time to get our hands on the album all week, we were subjected to reading the rest of the blogosphere’s reviews of what we were sure was to be the album of the year so far. To say we were worried would be an understatement. Upon listening, our fears weren’t subsided in the least. This might be the only time The Record Crate’s views are perfectly in line with Pitchfork’s. While the album is full of individual tracks that are easy and fun to listen to, the whole album - which lasts about as long as an episode of The League - loses its luster when listened to front to back. The band’s back story, which any faithful TRC reader already knows, is undoubtedly one of merit but simply not enough to carry this album through to it’s seemingly pre-determined status of “timeless.”

While the band’s re-recorded versions of their first two singles conveys a sound more reminiscent of their live sound, in conjunction with tracks like “South Carolina” that was released as a track on their first 7”, the songs found on “Cape Dory” are songs that would go good on a mellow playlist. 

Our personal favorite is the track “Pigeon.” Check out a version of the song below:

Tennis - Pigeon by Freedom Or Death

Don’t get us wrong. We love this band and will listen to this album over and over in hopes that it’s merely an “acquired taste.” We were just hoping for something … different?