Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking

The Like | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000ALM4FS
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,714 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

To dismiss the first album by L.A. girl band The Like as the product of mere nepotism -- band members Z. Berg (guitar/vocals), Charlotte Froom (bass) and Tennessee Thomas (drums) are the progeny of A&R man Tony Berg, producer Mitchell Froom and Attractions drummer Pete Thomas, respectively, while the album title winks at a hit by the equally gene-connected ‘60s teen-rock trio Dino, Desi and Billy – would be to miss one of the most assured and satisfying debuts in many a year. If anything, that music biz lineage has only steeped them in a rich, impressively eclectic range of influences. Deftly produced with an ear towards sonic depth and emotional complexity by former Prince bandmate Wendy Melvoin, the ethos here is considerably more intriguing than cliched, jangly West Coast Bangles guitar pop. Though barely out of high school, the trio instead dishes up elegiac, shimmering gems like "We Are Lost," and "The One" with wistful weariness, while injecting more indie-spirited songs like the hook-rich "Bridge to Nowhere," "Mrs. Actually" and the thumping openers "June Gloom" and "What I Say.." with inflections of everything from The Pretenders to more contemporary UK acts like Ride and The Sundays. Berg's voice is a marvel of mature, expressive restraint that belies her tender age, while the rhythm section of Froom and Thomas power it all with inventive, airtight chops throughout. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

UK version features on bonus track, 'One Step Ahead'. The debut album from the all-girl rock trio and is jam-packed with unforgettable hooks, harmonies and beautiful lyrics including the singles 'What I Say And What I Mean' & 'June Gloom. Universal. 2006. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent debut album... I like the Like, September 21, 2005

By 

Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking (Audio CD)

Rating: 4.5 Stars if new to the Like; 4 Stars for the rest of us.

I don't know how or where exactly my 15 yr. old daughter heard about the Like, but last year she downloaded a free song from the Like's website, and based on that we bought the 3 self-released EPs the band had issued in 2004 from their website (no longer available, I might add), and they were excellent. Based on the strength of those EPs, the band obtained a record deal. Fast-forward one year, and here we are.

"Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking" (13 tracks; 47 min.) brings us a nice mix of poppy rock, and I mean that as a compliment. The album is well-sequenced: from opener "June Gloom" to (first single) "What I Say and What I mean", and on, the set of 13 songs really flows well, with hardly a weak moment. Other highlights include, among others, "(I'll Sit Here) Waiting", the pensive "Bridge to Nowhere" and the rocking "Under the Paving Stones". (Incidentally, the singer of the band reminds me of the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde.)

Another comparison that comes to mind is Eisley. Similar to this band, Eisley released some EPs and then their excellent debut album earlier this year. The music of the Like is a bit edgier than Eisley, but generally is the same smart pop sense.

Finally, I rate this album "only" 4 stars since about half of the album are songs that come from the self-released EPs (similar to Eisley's debut album). We want more new songs! But if you're new to the Like, there is a lot of great new music to discover and, urr, to like. Highly recommended!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nobody's Thinking What I'm Thinking, January 3, 2006

By 

Gordon Hilgers (Dallas, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking (Audio CD)

To give it to you straight, I've been having a problem with some of the gunk that passes for music these days. I've been glum. Maybe it's the cynicism I'm hearing from people barely out their teens, but maybe it's crummy songwriting skills too. Whether it's My Morning Jacket's "critically acclaimed" album Z or just about anything else purporting to be "new" or "groundbreaking," I'm just a little bored over whatever it is that's supposed to be coming across to me. Most of it's blurry, and barely literate lyrics lie like cowering hamsters beneath avalanches of so many sound effects that the songs might as well not have words anyway, and worse the musicianship is almost always questionable. Listen: This isn't a problem that comes with maturity.

But here I am, speeding down the Mansfield Highway, the one here in Texas hill country, the one named after the legendary Jane Mansfield, heading for a Halloween Hootenanny near Stephenville, and my buddy and I are reaching for the volume switch--repeatedly--turning up The Like. For crusty semi-retreads like us, people who've already heard almost all there is to hear, to the point that the homeless guy who goes out and bangs on the dumpster by the apartment window is starting to sound like Ginger Baker, at this point, in this car, my buddy and I are hearing refreshing things from a trio of high school girls.

Totally, the music of The Like honestly and unaffectedly captures the lush puerility of early adulthood, and though that's a little jarring at first, especially to a guy who is freakin' old, The Like, more than any group I've heard in years, rates high on my vaunted "chill factor" rating system. If a song gives you chills, the musicians are communicating beyond mere artiness. And this collection is jamming with chilly stuff.

I won't compare The Like to The Sundays--or to anybody else. But I would like to see these chicks live someday, because if they can repeat what they're doing on this album in a setting full of shuffling shoe-gazers and wheezing drunks, then I'll be on board with The Like for a long time to come. Good job, girls.

By the way, there are songs on this album. Songs. The musicianship on the songs is often rich, many layered and almost organically electric in a way that conveys, well, songs. Nobody's trying to prove anything either. The harmonies are like crystal roses. I am over the age of 13, but you know what? I almost don't feel like it.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's Not to Like?, September 14, 2005

By 

Steven Moore (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking (Audio CD)

Thirteen summer-sad songs from a flower power trio, led by the extraordinarily talened singer/guitarist Z Berg. Seven songs are reworked from the three EPs they've released over the last few years. Their sound is reminiscent of the Sundays, maybe, or even "Life Is Sweet"-era Maria McKee (major compliment). The only drawback is the twee cover, but turn the booklet around and there's a lovely photo of these winsome beauties that can be used instead.