The Daily Spin, January 31
Tennis | Swimmer
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023. We’ve reached the end of our first month! Keep an eye out tomorrow for my first of 12 monthly recaps - I’ll walk through each album individually, adjust some scoring where I think maybe I overrated or slept on an album, and talk about some of my peaks and valley from January’s listening.
Additionally, I’ll be putting up a playlist with my favorite song from each album I’ve reviewed so far. Starting tomorrow, it’ll be updated daily.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Swimmer (2020)
Artist: Tennis
Link:
Tennis takes so much of what Vampire Weekend perfected and builds upon it with Swimmer, painting a beautifully picturesque, if at times droll, picture of life with another person in it, the joys and melancholy that comes with it.
For the group’s first venture in years into self-production, you wouldn’t know it, with their typical sound suited brilliantly by vaguely tropical guitars and synths that beckon just enough, a tropical breeze that’ll leave you swaying gently in the wind, utterly content.
The clear far-and-away star of the record is Tender as a Tomb, in my opinion - possibly because it bears the strongest resemblance to a song off of Modern Vampires In The City, with the whirling flute over a pretty basic guitar loop, lyrics just barely afloat amidst the noise, a percussive backing that’s content to amble along next to the rest of the music as it swings about.
Though I wish at times the album would take a little more initiative in driving the music along, it’s a solidly crafted metaphor for love, one that grabs me and throws me headlong into the water.
Rating: 8.7/10
Best Tracks: Tender as a Tomb, I’ll Haunt You
Worst Tracks: Late Night