If there was a reward for the longest take-off run, I’m sure the band Tennis Bafra would be nominated. They started the band in the mid-nineties and during fifteen years they  neither played live nor made any recordings. They were satisfied with playing together and having a good time in the rehearsal room. A couple of years ago the bass player Thomas Gjerdingen entered the band and took the role of the prince before the Sleeping Beauty-like band as he suggested that they should record something. Things took off and resulted in gigs, a label deal with Nomethod Records and now, in the beginning of the year, the debut album “Abulia Jubilee”.

They call it slacker noise and say that they got stuck in the nineties’ rock era with Sonic Youth and similar bands. I don’t argue with that, but they got stuck in their own special way and it works great for me as I listen now in 2012. They have a comfortable, relaxed, although rough, attitude on the album, more indie rock than noise I’d say, but I might add here that the last song is a 20 minutes long instrumental piece that feels like a journey with a creaking container ship in space.

They don’t have a clear explanation for the somewhat peculiar band name. They recall that they consciously wanted to do the opposite in some way. All the youth around them were all into either sports or music, so obviously they went for something that signalled sports in the name. Hockey didn’t sound to good but Tennis did. About Bafra they can only tell us that it was added shortly after Tennis, but noone remembers how and why.

You can listen more to Tennis Bafra on their site, on Spotify or on Wimp. You can also follow them on Facebook.

Halal Haircut