At this point, the adorable origin story behind Tennis has become indie lore. Two newly weds from a landlocked state set out on a sea voyage, and the adventures therein inspired an album. As much as we all love their precious beginnings, it’s their gorgeous music that has kept people listening. Since releasing their Baltimore EP over the summer, it seems that every blogger and cute indie kid at the bar has been eagerly anticipating the full-length release. After months of buzz, Cape Dory was finally introduced this January.

The album is a delicious little sliver of summer; a hazy pop dream thanks to Alaina Moore’s sweetly sincere vocals and the wall-of-sound inspired lo-fi so present in the music scene today. It’s an album you are guaranteed to be rocking to all summer, playing at all rooftop bbqs and picnics. While it doesn’t play quite as well in the dead of winter, their jingling, delicate music is absolutely perfect for the oncoming thaw.

While Cape Dory delivers on the promise of the EP with ten songs of pristine throwback pop, the gem of the collection is still “Marathon”, the song that originally started the buzz. It’s a spectacularly well-crafted track that keeps the exhilarating feeling of discovering something new even after countless listens.

The collection of songs overall is not an attempt to reinvent the wheel from their first release. Tracks like “Take Me Somewhere” and “Pigeon” offer the same sort of shimmering sweetness found on the EP. These are truly spectacular vintage pop songs, though, that glue the album together flawlessly. For Cape Dory, the consistency and playability of the record has impressed me more so than a few stand-out tracks. On the whole, it is a well-conceived group of songs that works as a genuine, simple introduction to the couple and their music.

It will be interesting to see where Tennis goes from here and where they will draw inspiration from for the next album. Cape Dory is partly interesting because it is so steeped in its story. We know they are capable of putting together a great and tightly cohesive record about sea travel, and I’m excited to see how well they convey their latest adventures in future releases.