This one’s a peppy little number. That sounds reductive, but it’s not meant to — this is a standout track from an up-and-coming group with tons of potential. It’s telling, though, that “Origins” mostly steers clear of Tennis’ typical Brill Building leanings. It’s not as quaint as much of Young & Old, the Denver duo’s second album, released earlier this year. Produced by the Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, the record seems borne of an effort to streamline and smooth out the edges displayed on the group’s roughly-recorded first album, Cape Dory. It ended up (despite ditching the “songs of the sea” conceit of their debut) sounding simultaneously more down-to-earth and more high-gloss/precious. It’s a raw sound, but it’s a lifelessly perfect raw sound that, when wed to Tennis’ saccharine melodies and simple lyrics, can, over an album’s run time, grow cloying.
But there’s no denying that Tennis have a flair for those melodies. And when put in the right context like, say, an upbeat minimalist arrangement with steady guitar clips and gloriously stomping drum patterns, the end result, as on this track, can be something close to awe-inspiring. Vocalist Alaina Moore, often a tad melodramatic, delivers a commanding, soul-inspired performance on “Origins” that is the true focal point of the recording. It would be difficult to imagine this music working with any other vocalist, as Moore’s poise and extraordinary pipes tend to, on some level, make or break everything this group does. When she’s on, things are good. When either she or the material are getting a bit too cutesy, then we’ve got problems. In the future Tennis could be great, and an album totally made up of songs like this would be a big step in that direction.