Cape Dory

'What do you do after saving up for a sailboat and taking it for a spin along the East Coast? Document the experience through song, of course! Or that's the story surrounding the beginnings of married couple Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley's band Tennis, anyway . . . If you had any doubts about the above story, the opening lines of "Marathon," sung softly by Moore over a jaunty keyboard, will set you straight: "Coconut Grove is a very small cove / We didn't realize that we had arrived at high tide, barely made it out alive." While Tennis could bring to mind Camera Obscura in the pairing of sugary vocals and melodies that ruled another era, the tracks on Cape Dory lack the cynicism that color lead singer Tracyanne Campbell's lyrics. Cape Dory could have easily been rife with ballads, but it becomes clear that Tennis knows how to pick its moments. Saving "Water Birds" for last, the album seems to reward listeners with slower songs when they least expect it.' - Claire R. Lopez / Filter Magazine