Tennis (band)

Tennis (band)
Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley of Tennis at Bumbershoot 2011 Seattle
Background information
Origin	Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Genres	Indie pop, surf pop, lo-fi
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Fat Possum Underwater Peoples Fire Talk Forest Family
Website	tennis-music.com
Members	Patrick Riley Alaina Moore James Barone

Tennis is an American indie pop band from Denver made up of husband-and-wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. During their first tour, James Barone joined the band on drums.^[1] The couple met each other while studying philosophy in college, and started the band after they got back from a eight-month sailing expedition down the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard.^[1] Their songs document their experiences on the water.^[2] They took their name from a joke about Patrick Riley playing tennis in college. Prior to joining Tennis, Moore's earliest singing experience was in church choirs during her youth.^[3]

Their first releases, both in July 2010, were the "Baltimore" EP on the Underwater Peoples label and the "South Carolina" single on Fire Talk. Tennis released their first studio album, Cape Dory on Fat Possum Records in January 2011. The album, featured on NPR,^[4] is based on the couple's experiences during their sailing trip.

The second Tennis album Young & Old^[5] was released on Fat Possum Records on February 14, 2012, produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys. The album's single "Origins"^[6] was issued on Forest Family Records on December 6, 2011.

Tennis have also released a number of covers, with self-released (digital) versions of "Tell Her No"^[7] by The Zombies, "Is It True?"^[8] by Brenda Lee, "Tears in the Typing Pool"^[9] by Broadcast, and "Guiding Light" ^[10] by Television.

American Songwriter named Tennis their Writer of the Week for the week of April 23, 2012.^[11]

In November 2013, Tennis released a 5-song EP titled Small Sound on Communion Records. It was previewed through Pitchfork Advance on October 29, 2013.

Members

• Alaina Moore - vocals, keyboards, guitar
• Patrick Riley - guitar, bass guitar
• James Barone - drums

Discography

Studio albums

• Cape Dory (Fat Possum, January 2011)
• Young & Old (Fat Possum, February 2012)
• Ritual In Repeat (Communion, September 2014)

EPs

• Small Sound (Communion, November 2013)

Singles

• "Baltimore" (Underwater Peoples, July 2010)
• "South Carolina" (Fire Talk, July 2010)
• "Is It True?" (self-released, June 2011)
• "Tell Her No" (self-released, October 2011)
• "Tears in the Typing Pool" (self-released, December 2011)
• "Origins" (Forest Family, December 2011)
• "My Better Self" / "Petition" (ATP, May 2012)
• "Guiding Light" (self-released, September 2012)
• "I'm Callin'" (Communion Records, August 2014)

Cultural references

• Once Upon a Time: During the welcome-home party sequence in the episode "The Return", the Tennis song "Origins" (from Young & Old) was heard in the background.

• Grey's Anatomy: In the season 8 episode "Put Me in Coach," the Tennis song "High Road" was heard. "Origins" was later heard in "Have You Seen Me Lately?"

• The rapper G-Eazy sampled the song "Marathon" in his song "Waspy."

• Revenge: In the season 4 episode "Intel", the Tennis song "I'm Callin'" was heard during Nolan and Louise's conversation by the bar.

References