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Produced by Jack Shirley, whose CV includes his excellent work with Deafheaven, the album is awash with distorted guitars, distant vocals and despairingly beautiful melodies. “ The Line Of Best Fit.

“Lovesick blends the organized chaos of post-punk with subterranean indie vocals and choruses, and, with such an effective melange of pulses, rhythms, guitars, and vocals, they remain oddly reminiscent of Weekend’s Jinx, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, and Interpol’s Turn On the Bright Lights.” New Noise.

“In 2019 the LA trio slot perfectly into an environment where everyone from Nothing to MØL have done their shoegaze homework. Anyway, closer inspection reveals that Lovesick isn’t just about nu-gaze moves, with emo-slacker sentiment and punkily propulsive drums both helping to corral the woozy sounds into genuinely memorable tunes. “ KKKK Kerrang!

With five years passing since Tennis System‘s previous full-length, ‘Technicolor Blind’, numerous set backs have occurred, and though vocalist/guitarist Matty Taylor has been battling to realise his vision, eventually ‘Lovesick’ has come to light.

Settled as a trio, completed by bassist Sam Glassberg and drummer Garren Orr, the frustrations and determination of the group has been captured on tape for the group’s third release.

Aiming for grandeur from the start, ‘Shelf Life’ delivers a thick wall of sound with jarring breaks and dominating drum beats. Playing the quiet and loud dynamic that fuels the group’s shoe gaze style, the track is a towering display of swirling melodies and pummelling distortion. Whilst it may not ease itself into the record at first, it displays a charm that works its way in.

Becoming more accessible with ‘Cut’, the group work with punk influences as snarling vocals and layers of fuzz battle against breakneck drumming. Relying on simple hooks, the song gives itself room to allow Glassberg‘s slinking bass lines to ebb and flow around the track.

Working with the Sonic Youth blueprint, the record is steeped in thick bursts of discord and glimmering melody. This isn’t to say that the tracks don’t hold their own, as ‘Third Time’ displays a powerful stomp and groove underneath Taylor‘s snappy delivery.

L.A based Tennis System began as a four-piece band in the Washington, D.C. area around 2008. The group was originally made up of guitarist/songwriter Matty Taylor, bassist Clinton Cole, second guitarist Brad Fullilove, and drummer Misha Bullock. The group opened for touring bands such as Ty Segal and Pains of Being Pure at Heart and recorded 2010's The Future of Our History before Fullilove and Cole moved on later that year.

They played around Los Angeles and continued working on new material, reaching a new level in 2018 when they began working with Graveface Records, the label run by Black Moth Super Rainbow's Ryan Graveface. The label released Tennis System's 2018 EP P A I N and the next year followed up with Lovesick, the third and heaviest album from the band yet.