The Recommender

This married duo from Denver, Colorado, are without doubt the most reflective band we’ve ever posted about here on The Recommender, mirroring the past so well it would have Einstein re-evaluating his theories on time travel.  Their arresting and rather immaculately conceived pop music is like a perfect slice of 1960s musical history, of the kind not seen since Jackie Shannon adorned the stage at Hullabaloo.  It’s all the more astonishing when you put their new music in the context of their contemporaries and the rest of our modern era, with all the internet toys and edgy hipsters.  At the very least you have to respect the idea, for it’s utterly remarkable in its conception, let alone its delightful execution.  We admire their confidence for even considering to make music of this style and of this retrospective nature.  With Tennis you get lo-fi, reverberating lines of guitar, that are played over an uncomplicated snare-cymbal-snare drum beat.  You imagine the whole backing band, (and it really does reflect a time when this sort of music had official backing bands), to all be smiling their bright, white smiles and looking straight at the camera without blinking.  It generates imagery of a romantic time when adverts were a new concept and life was sold to us as an American Dream.  However, it’s the vocals that complete the picture, with Alaina Moore’s twee, slightly haunting voice, that seems as though it’s being sung to you by the ghost of Dusty Springfield, while the blurred guitar chimes behind her.  With music this dated you would be forgiven for asking why we’ve included them on our virtual pages.  Our response would be to point out just how perfect and addictive each of their tracks are.  They make you feel so good.   They wrap around you a warm blanket of comfort, which transports you to a world without care or competition.  It’s escapism, without the mind altering drugs or booze fuel.  Of course you won’t like it if you turn your noses up at the likes of Gorilla vs Bear, or the gigs at The Freebutt, but we suggest there’s room in life for lighter shades.  It’s also worth pointing out that throughout this year, when the likes of lo-fi chillwave and sun-bleached surf pop brought a haze of drifting atmosphere out of your speakers, that this is the perfect end to a spectrum of genres that’s giving us all the antidote to a global recession.  They’ve bottled the 1960s, opened it up and poured it into 2010 and we think it tastes perfect.    (MB)

Find them here:         Myspace

Hear them here:         TENNIS – MARATHON

Hear them here:        TENNIS – SOUTH CAROLINA

Hear them here:        TENNIS – BALTIMORE