Night Time Tennis
I'm In Love With Edith Keeler
Indiepunk
"NTT have, in their debut, redefined the appealing punk sound by keeping it raw, real and accessible"
The Artist
NTT are a DIY Punk flavoured Indie band consisting of Will Boyd (Vocals & Guitar), Harry Whitelegg (Bass), Juan Christian (lead guitar) ((not that Juan)) and Beth Coole (drums).
I first encountered, nay... experienced! Night Time Tennis in the summer of 2021 at a festival down south. They were the first live act I've seen for a while that made me grin ear to ear, not want to look away and sing every word back all without knowing a single member beforehand (except Beth, she's been on the scene since she was like... an embryonic beat machine).
From that point on I had to know who they were, what they were about and more importantly... when they were going to release a debut track!
The Song
Booting the door down with an ambient riser with feedback, a repeated chord is propped up by a killer beat. Before long Will's baritone dulcet tones warble in. The overall sound is reminiscent of the vibe from White Lies with the energy of The Enemy or maybe even The Clash if they were spawned in the early 00's.
The lead work is perfect, it compliments the track without overcrowding the base melodies. It must be mentioned, this is a Donaldson produced special and the already high bar set by Mr Ben has been raised yet again. Clap emoji clap emoji clap emoji.
Lyrically the themes hark back to retro references such as "Captain Kirk" on the "Starship Enterprise". Balanced well with Intraspective notions, I believe this songs is written appeal in mind.
The Verdict
NTT fit my description of punk with a commercial appeal. Forget the cringy songs about a girl at a gig driving you wild, ego stroking shag bragging or dumb pop punk... NTT have, in their debut, redefined the appealing punk sound by keeping it raw, real and accessible... A feat not achieved since Voodoo Bandits dropped ESP or Fuzz My Life (Check those out btw)
If you like...
If you dig Voodoo Bandits, White Lies, The Enemy, The Vaccines, early Arctic Monkeys or just any decent popular punk music then you will love this track.