You guys!! It’s been a little while since I had a new add, but I’ve got a whole new bumper crop of releases coming up for this summer and fall and dudes it is CRAZY how good each of them is. First one up went out to radio this week (my fantastic new roommates helped me pack it up!) for adds this upcoming patriotic holiday, and it is appropriately themed by lyrically drawing mostly upon this band’s experiences totally on the other side of the world.
So: Tennis Pro are great!! They are a kinda garagey, slightly surfy (at times) rock band from Seattle, and I think we all know by now how much I like Seattle (I really like Seattle, everybody). Another new-ish band they remind me of is The Soft Pack, if you are the kind of person that needs a slot to plug them into, with their Kinks and Violent Femmes influences on display. But really you should just listen for yourself, and also read the bio below because there is a ton of really exciting information packed into it (tracks mixed by Steve Fisk!! A movie in the works!!!) LET’S DO THIS!
TENNIS PRO
SHIMOKITA IS DEAD?
Self-Released
Tennis Pro is from Seattle, but don’t let the gray clouds and sad, bearded indie-rock populace fool you. Tennis Pro doesn’t wear beards. Sometimes Tennis Pro wears beards, but in a totally ironic way. Tennis Pro likes to have a good time when they play, and they wish to extend that feeling on to you. Tennis Pro plays indie power-pop. Melody and anarchy. Let’s just leave it at that. If you wonder whether Rainbow-Infused Flute-Funk or Cocktronic Retro-Core might better describe the feelings you feel when you listen to Tennis Pro, then blog it out, but don’t beat yourself up over it.
Once described by novelist and screenwriter Dave Eggers as “melodic and anarchic,” Tennis Pro is at times punky, at times surfy, and always grounded in melody and electricity in recordings and live performances. Lyrically, Tennis Pro remains a band obsessed with the trappings of attitude and all things Rock and Roll. Their songs tell stories of heartbreak and entitlement, often out of the mouth of an untrustworthy narrator. This, the band’s fourth album since forming in 2003, draws particular inspiration from experiences while touring Japan in production of forthcoming feature film Big in Japan, directed by John Jeffcoat (Outsourced).
Shimokita is Dead? was produced by band member Phillip Peterson (Owl City, Helmet, Portugal The Man, Gym Class Heroes, Mastodon, The Posies, Nada Surf) and includes the engineering and mixing talents of Steve Fisk (Nirvana, The Posies, Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, Harvey Danger), Don Gunn (Peter Frampton, Ian McFeron), and Greg Williamson (Sunny Day Real Estate).
RIYL: Violent Femmes, Kinks, Hives, The Soft Pack
Start With: 3, 2, 1, 6 FCC CLEAN
Contact me for a download link!
Oh also an explanation of the album title: I learned from the band that Shimokita (pronunciation key: Shee MO kee tah) is short for Shimokitazawa. This is a neighborhood in Tokyo that has the most live music venues, vintage stores, record shops, cool bars, etc (the Williamsburg, or Capitol Hill if you’re a Seattleite, of Tokyo). The government is building a highway through it which will kill much of its charm. The band was there in Shimokita in April when they had a 7.4 quake. Whoa!
everything is awesome!!!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tennis-Pro/167226971806
http://www.myspace.com/tennispro
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tennispro/big-in-japan-a-john-jeffcoat-film-featuring-seattl
the band mom loves you 
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