Tennis – “Easter Island”

When you hear the title of this song, don’t think “Easter Island” as in giant, looming monolithic heads staring out to sea. Think “Easter” as in Peeps, chocolate eggs and pastel-colored baskets because it’s a bouncy, clappy, sweet little number that has nothing to do with scary statues standing lonely on the most isolated island in the world. No, kids, this is happy stuff.

The new single from Tennis, the Denver-based trio comprised of married couple Alaina Moore (vocals, keyboard, guitar) and Patrick Riley (guitar, bass) and drummer James Barone, continues in the poppy, 1970s AM-radio style they moved into on their second and third albums, “Young & Old” (Fat Possum, 2012) and “Ritual & Repeat” (Communion, 2014). Moore’s bright, clear vocals are right out in front; you can envision a little white bouncing ball (maybe pink?) skipping over the lyrics as they pass by onscreen some Saturday morning of Long Ago. The echoey production and dominant harpsichord-like keyboard make me want to suggest it to Wes Anderson for the soundtrack of his next film. Like his movies, the music of Tennis feels slightly out of time, as if it’s been scooped out of a candy-colored historical era that never quite existed, and daintily deposited into the here and now. Enjoy–it’s calorie-free.