The first track on Tan-Tan Therapy opens with a slow splatter of acoustic picking and panting vocals that suggest the song is about to take off, but it never does. The horns and harmonica on “Baibaba Bimba” slowly rattle themselves to life and cue the listener for a patient album. Tenniscoats also implore woodwinds that have a style reminiscent of Spaghetti Westerns, while the harp is played with the tenor of a child running a stick across a picket fence, scraping out the notes.
The band mixes subtle changes with grand ones, alleviating the listener’s desire to anticipate what’s coming entirely. It’s an album compiled mostly of lush, vulnerable arraignments, which are permeated by claustrophobic moments like the narrow percussion-fueled march of “Mbarepa!”
There are times when Tenniscoats sound as if they’re the perfect tour companions for Sigur Ros, both create the emotionally manipulative kind of music that puts whatever you’re doing into slow motion. However, like their closest musical counterparts, Mum, they occasionally expose glimpses of their songwriting formula; temporarily dimming it’s wonder.
The second half of the album sounds like an uphill battle to which “Uta ga Nainoni (Like no songs)” is certainly the first glimpse of the top. The closer “Good Be” shows a more abrasive side of the horn section that makes the finale a sobering experience.
Tenniscoats have delivered a remarkable album that poises them to become one of Japan’s more exciting imports in the future. Tan-Tan Therapy is the sound of timid exploration or a modest parade, and it’s worth not letting it go overlooked.
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