Thursday, June 04, 2020

CoronaVinyl Day 80 (Indie Rock): Yours Conditionally by Tennis

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.
Today's CoronaVinyl category is indie rock, which is about as amorphous a "genre" as I could imagine.  It can mean so many things and encompasses various types of music, but what I take it to mean is music that is (1) released on an independent label and (2) not usually considered "mainstream" (although sometimes indie musicians do achieve considerable success, whether on the charts, on the road, or at the Grammy Awards).  

Without belaboring the point, I'm just going to go with Tennis's 2017 album Yours Conditionally.  I got this as part of the Vinyl Me, Please record club, and as you can see, it has a cool half pink, half blue vinyl.  Tennis is the husband-and-wife duo of Alaina Moore (pictured on the cover looking very '80s Jennifer Grey) and Patrick Ridley.  They have an interesting story.  The couple met in college in Denver, and they decided to start a band after an eight-month, post-graduation sailing trip down along the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard.  Their first album, 2011's Cape Dory, documented their sailing experience.

2017's Yours Conditionally is their fourth studio album, and it was also inspired by a sailing trip, this time in the Pacific, from San Diego, down along Baja California, and then into the Sea of Cortez.  It was released on the band's own label, Mutually Detrimental, and the songs are generally a blend of dreamy indie pop and indie rock.  The album has a very laid back '70s vibe.  Moore's vocals are smooth, as are the instruments.  It is the kind of music I could imagine listening to while on sailboat.    

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Ladies Don't Play Guitar"
Aside from being a false statement, 'Ladies Don't Play Guitar" is a catchy, poppy song, ironically enough with understated guitar parts.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Please Don't Ruin This For Me"
"Please don't ruing this for me" is something that we've all likely told someone, been told, or told ourselves at some point.  This song has kind of a '60s girl group feel to it, which I enjoy.

No comments: