FUV Live At CMJ 2015: Hooton Tennis Club
FUV Live at CMJ with Hooton Tennis Club (photo by Gus Philippas/WFUV)
The euphoric, jangling guitar rock of Liverpool's Hooton Tennis Club is both goofy and disarmingly smart, bathed in swoony summertime vibes and hummable hooks. The quartet's debut album, Highest Point in Cliff Town, dropped in late August on Heavenly Recordings on the heels of wiry singles like "Jasper" and "Kathleen Sat On the Arm of her Favourite Chair." While there's a raucous '90s squall to their sound, the four childhood friends (who hail from Chester and Ellesmere Port) found inspiration in the very contemporary, DIY way that bands like Deerhunter recorded music and built their fanbase. Signed by their record label after a mere three live gigs, Hooton Tennis Club reached out to the eclectically-minded Bill Ryder Jones, former guitarist for the Coral, to produce the dozen songs on the album, all of which reflect real experiences in their lives.
Hooton Tennis Club was not only making its New York debut at FUV Live at CMJ, but playing its very first set and radio broadcast in the United States too. And despite some jet-lag (they'd just landed from the UK earlier that day), the quartet slammed out a short, raucous and jubilant set at Rockwood Music Hall, abundant with songs that they've pointed have have very long titles with girls' names, like "Kathleen Sat on the Arm of Her Favourite Chair," "And Then Camilla Drew Fourteen Dots on Her Knee," and "Something Much Quicker Than Anyone but Jennifer Could Ever Imagine."
Despite those verbose and sprawling titles, the band's set was taut, confident and focused, especially when blasting through their single "P.O.W.E.R.F.U.L. P.I.E.R.R.E."—a swaggering blast of Blur-ish bravado—and their closer, the shimmering pop beauty of "Jasper," a song written for singer Ryan Murphy's grandfather.
Hooton Tennis Club have a long roster of gigs ahead and the band's brash and brilliant Stateside debut at FUV Live at CMJ was a harbinger of many good shows to come.
Follow Hooton Tennis Club on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and listen to the band's FUV Live at CMJ performance below.
Setlist
"Something Much Quicker Than Anyone But Jennifer Could Ever Imagine"
"I’m Not Going Roses Again"
"P.O.W.E.R.F.U.L. P.I.E.R.R.E."
"…And Then Camilla Drew Fourteen Dots On Her Knee"
"Kathleen Sat On The Arm Of Her Favourite Chair"
"Fall In Luv"
"New Shoes"
"Jasper"
More from FUV Live at CMJ 2015:
