With a collection of impeccably-produced pop songs that rock enough to take you back to those Halcyon days of the pre-Riotous mid-90’s and artists like Veruca Salt and Liz Phair, The Like are poised for world domination as their full-length CD ARE YOU THINKING WHAT I’M THINKING hits the shelves this September.
The Like is a three piece band from Los Angeles, which has been impressing local audiences since their inception in 2001, “when best friends Charlotte Froom (a bassist of two weeks at the time) and Tennessee Jane Bunny Thomas (a drummer in her all-girls-school band) met Z Berg and found the voice and songs they had been looking for”.
Though their press photos make them appear almost alt-country and their website looks closer to something created by a DIY post-punk outfit, their sound is direct and unpretentious,
never straying completely into either bubblegum or alt-rock (whatEVER that means nowadays).
From the Adam-Ant stomp of “June Gloom” through tracks like the Michael Penn-ish “Bridge to Nowhere” and even the slightly psychedelic “Too Late”, The Like are able to rely on their shimmering underproduced guitars, simple rhythm section and two-part harmonies to keep every track solid and driving, without resorting to production slam or studio gloss.
This could be to their detriment, however. Although the intensity level never falters, The Like for the most part stay away from the Big Hook and the Big Chorus that major labels (Geffen, in this case) often count on to get those units moving, especially with young bands.
But since their combined ages are only slightly more than half of what The Rolling Stones’ were 40 years ago, this is probably unjust criticism. ARE YOU THINKING WHAT I’M THINKING has got style and personality from start to finish and, supported by their strong live act, should provide more than enough foundation on which to build a career. And they prove that all the good band names haven't been taken yet, which is no small achievement. |