Strangely enough, I have never mentioned Tennis before on Athens66 (with the exception of featuring one of their videos in our videowall back at the end of July 2010). They are a husband-and-wife duo from Denver, Colorado. Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley formed the band in 2010 and released their first EP during the summer of the same year. Their debut LP came at the begininning of 2011, titled Cape Dory, and a was a joyful bedroom pop album that I absolutely loved.

A bit over a year later the band released their followup album Young & Old, which I actually had the opportunity to hear live on the day of its official release (Feb 13) in a small stage in Hoxton. Their new tracks are still the warming pop music we came to love in their debut, the sound however is much crisper and composed this time around. It's evident that this second album has been more professionally produced (meaning more structured melodies and better quality) but I'm really glad to see that the fresh, small-band theme was not abandoned. Their songs are cheerful, sweet and a pure pop joy. Alaina is more focused on lyrics and vocals now and the melody hase been left to Patrick, in a more traditional setup that actually works really well. For me, this is an album you just have to take with you for the summer holidays and cruise around with. One of the best release of 2012 so far!