Tennis System

Behind the sweat-drenched performances, the Orange amps and squalling anthems of L.A.’s Tennis System is one leather-clad lone wolf, Matty Taylor, whose bedroom musings bleed their way into a kind of unhinged, lo-fi psychedelia. Arriving in Los Angeles was a spirit quest that took Taylor from one coast to the other: It was in gritty Washington, D.C. that a young Taylor steeped like tea in the music of Fugazi and Bad Brains, Black Tambourine and Velocity Girl. Now, Taylor distills his adopted home’s sun-bleached optimism and its heartbreaking letdowns: “Lovers and Fake Friends” abandons its dreamy beginnings for a disenchanted, Dinosaur Jr.-esque riot of guitars. “I Want It All” may as well be the lament of every sorry West Coast dream-chaser.