The Like Young

Posted by Editorial Intern on 31-May-06 @ 02:49 PM

HQ: Chicago, IL

NOW PLAYING: Last Secrets (POLYVINYL; polyvinylrecords.com)

WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM:With three albums' worth of introspective indie pop to their credit, the Like Young have flown under the radar without much turbulence; but a new disc on Polyvinyl should cause more than a blip.

YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: Saturday Looks Good To Me / Shout Out Louds / Phantom Planet

You know the story: College boy meets high-school girl. Boy falls for girl, asks her to start a band with him. Scrappy home collaborations begin; full-fledged studio recordings result; marriage and several albums' worth of rough-edged power-pop follow. Okay, so maybe this story isn't quite stereotypical--but neither are the Like Young. With Last Secrets, their third album and Polyvinyl debut, the husband-and-wife duo show listeners their strength lies in doling out hearty portions of power-pop and power chords, with just enough sunshine to balance out the distortion.
Given the nontraditional love story of Joseph and Amanda Ziemba and the nontraditional drummer-guitarist setup they've adopted in their band, it's tempting to think of the Like Young along the lines of the White Stripes or Mates Of State. But, says Amanda, the Like Young are ready to challenge the husband/wife band paradigm. "I definitely think we're in the middle [of the two bands]," she muses, adding that, while her hubby handled the majority of the past songwriting up to this point, she played a much bigger role in the writing process for Last Secrets. Of course, that doesn't mean she didn't put her stamp on the previous albums' songwriting--after all, when your husband is penning the lyrics, you've got a pretty good idea of who the songs are about, right?
"If [the song's] about Amanda, it's about improving myself," explains Joseph, adding that "There aren't any love songs." Good to hear that after the honeymoon is over, you can continue make beautiful music together--literally. --Emily Zemler


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