Tennis Pigeon

Two philosophy students meet in college and decide they want to learn to sail so they can take an extended voyage after school. Despite having no sailing knowledge, and living in landlocked Colorado, the pair learns all they can, and upon graduating, embarks on a seven month journey along the North Atlantic Coast.

Two years later, with stories aplenty, Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore are traveling again, but this time on dry land. The husband and wife sailing team have formed the band Tennis, and commemorated their ocean adventures on their debut album Cape Dory.

While not nearly as gritty a sound as that of rising indie star Best Coast, Cape Dory certainly has the feel of a surf rock record (sail-rock really). Lead singer Moore's voice is innocent and dreamy, the perfect medium to express her romantic stories of sailing under moonlight. The instrumentation "“ electric guitar, drums, and sometimes keyboards "“ is simple, but intentional. There is a tranquility to their sound, as if they hoped that you, too, could be lulled to sleep by rolling waves washing into shore.

The whole idea for their trip sounds idealistic and romantic, and their music embraces this notion. While at sea, with no electricity, they longed to hear music. Once on shore, it was their music that would describe their yearning for the open seas. Well, it's this nostalgic and romantic struggle that has produced such a beautiful record.

So while I do hope Riley and Moore set sail again sometime soon, I also hope maybe we can get at least another EP out of them before they abandon us for good.