Tennis’ first album was written while the husband/wife duo were sailing in the North Atlantic; the album was predictably adorable and garnered the young band a lot of attention. Not a year later, Tennis has released their second album Young & Old. The band has lost their nautical backstory, but producer Patrick Carney of the Black Keys helps Tennis navigate through their sophomore release by helping them incorporate more pop and rock elements into their sound. The tracks “Origins” and “Traveling” float singer Alaina Moore’s dispassionate vocals over pounded out surf-pop with a tinge of early soul. “Dreaming,” the album’s eighth song, is the album’s most outwardly retro track; if the guitar and drums were less jittery “Dreaming” wouldn’t be far off from placing on the earl ’60s pop charts.
Even though the demands were varied, Moore’s voice never disappoints on the album. Whether she is driven and sharp like on “Petition” or languid like on “My Better Self,” she consistently fits the bill required of her. In addition to Carney’s production, the duo has also added James Barone on drums. The new drummer has an easy chemistry with the duo; his uncomplicated rhythms structure the loping, and occasionally aimless melodic elements. In the opening track “It All Feels the Same,” Barone’s drumming sweeps in and lends the track a feeling of placid anxiety that permeates the album. The song rides Moore’s increasingly direct vocals until she slips back into the svelte croon of her first album. Tennis’ second effort shows the band branching out well, but musically they’re stuck between the effortlessness of their old sound and the vitality that they occasionally hit on Young & Old.