The Like
Encyclopedia
The Like is an alternative rock
band from Los Angeles, California. The current members are Elizabeth "Z" Berg (vocals and guitar), Tennessee Thomas
(drums), Laena Geronimo (bass), and Annie Monroe (organ). Since forming in 2001, the band has released three extended plays (EPs) and two studio albums.
(bass/vocals) and Tennessee Thomas
(drums) at the ages of 15, 15 and 16, respectively. All three are daughters of music industry veterans; Berg's father is former Geffen Records
A&R
exec/record producer Tony Berg, Froom's father is producer Mitchell Froom
and Thomas' father is Pete Thomas
, longtime drummer for Elvis Costello
. From childhood, Froom, Berg and Thomas were immersed in classic rock, and all three took piano lessons before teaching themselves their current instruments.
They formed when the parents of childhood friends Thomas and Froom learned that Berg had been writing songs and showed interest in forming a band. Froom learned bass two weeks before joining, and the three began working together, getting fast results. Thomas's mother came up with the name in recognition of how often the girls used the word "like".
Over a period of three years, the band independently released three EPs (I Like The Like, ... and The Like, and Like It or Not), which they sold at shows and on their website. Their song "(So I'll Sit Here) Waiting" was featured on the soundtrack of the film Thirteen
. Soon a diverse fan base developed and magazines around the world began to take notice. Since forming, the Like have drawn major media attention and have been featured in magazines such as Teen People and Rolling Stone
. They toured with Phantom Planet
and Kings of Leon
. In 2004, the Like signed to Geffen Records.
, through Geffen on September 13, 2005. The album is a combination of reworked songs previously released on their independent EPs as well as new material. The reviews were generally positive. Krissi Murison of the NME
had praise for such songs as "June Gloom" and "(So I'll Sit Here) Waiting", but criticized the "over-polished approach" of producer Wendy Melvoin
.
The band performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
in April 2006 and at the Wireless Festival
in Hyde Park, London in June 2006. In September 2006, the Like supported Muse
on a short string of tour dates in the U.S., before heading to Europe to support UK band Razorlight
.
, as well as Alex Greenwald
and various members of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
. Departing from the sound of Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?, they were inspired by the music of classic girl groups, British invasion acts, and 1960s female songwriters. Greenwald played the bass guitar on all tracks.
On September 17, 2009, the band posted a message entitled "The Like 2.0" on their MySpace
blog. The message announced a new lineup: founding members Berg and Thomas, plus new members Reni Lane
and Laena Geronimo. This lineup toured with Arctic Monkeys
in September and October 2009. Reni Lane has since left the band and been replaced by current band member Annie Monroe.
Downtown Records
released the album, entitled Release Me
, on June 15, 2010. USA Today
called it a "vast improvement" over Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? Los Angeles
magazine noted that the band "has gone retro-fab, with Farfisa organ, jangly Brit-pop guitar, and hand claps." Jon Pareles
of The New York Times
wrote, "The tough girl group is hardly a new concept—ask Blondie
or the Donnas
—but done right, like this, it's irresistible."
The band starred in a short film commissioned by designer Zac Posen
as a way to promote his Target
fashion collection. The film shows the band hanging out in a hotel room and then performing the single "Fair Game". The film was directed by Gia Coppola (granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola
). The Like also appeared as themselves in an October 2010 episode of the TV series 90210
, and in issue 3 of the The Li'l Depressed Boy comic book.
"The Like have cancelled all their upcoming shows, and the band is currently on an indefinite hiatus. There is no further statement from the band at this time."
Shortly after commenting on the wall was closed to "control the spam & integrity of the band ". As of October 2011 no further information has been released.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band from Los Angeles, California. The current members are Elizabeth "Z" Berg (vocals and guitar), Tennessee Thomas
Tennessee Thomas
Tennessee Jane Bunny Thomas is a British-born American drummer and actress. She is a founding member and drummer of the indie rock group The Like.She is the daughter of Pete Thomas, drummer for Elvis Costello and the Attractions....
(drums), Laena Geronimo (bass), and Annie Monroe (organ). Since forming in 2001, the band has released three extended plays (EPs) and two studio albums.
Formation and early years
The Like were formed in September 2001 by Elizabeth "Z" Berg (vocals/guitar), Charlotte FroomCharlotte Froom
Charlotte Froom is the former bassist & background vocalist of The Like. She left "The Like" after trying to replace her former friend, Elizabeth Berg as lead singer....
(bass/vocals) and Tennessee Thomas
Tennessee Thomas
Tennessee Jane Bunny Thomas is a British-born American drummer and actress. She is a founding member and drummer of the indie rock group The Like.She is the daughter of Pete Thomas, drummer for Elvis Costello and the Attractions....
(drums) at the ages of 15, 15 and 16, respectively. All three are daughters of music industry veterans; Berg's father is former Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
exec/record producer Tony Berg, Froom's father is producer Mitchell Froom
Mitchell Froom
-Career:Froom began his career as a keyboard player in Sonoma County, California. The band Crossfire featured two keyboards players; Mitchell on one side of the stage and brother David on the other with Gary Pihl on guitar...
and Thomas' father is Pete Thomas
Pete Thomas
Pete Thomas is best known as the longtime drummer for Elvis Costello. Tom Waits has referred to him as "one of the best rock drummers alive".-Career:...
, longtime drummer for Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
. From childhood, Froom, Berg and Thomas were immersed in classic rock, and all three took piano lessons before teaching themselves their current instruments.
They formed when the parents of childhood friends Thomas and Froom learned that Berg had been writing songs and showed interest in forming a band. Froom learned bass two weeks before joining, and the three began working together, getting fast results. Thomas's mother came up with the name in recognition of how often the girls used the word "like".
Over a period of three years, the band independently released three EPs (I Like The Like, ... and The Like, and Like It or Not), which they sold at shows and on their website. Their song "(So I'll Sit Here) Waiting" was featured on the soundtrack of the film Thirteen
Thirteen (film)
Thirteen is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film's co-star. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter. It is a semi-autobiographical film inspired by Reed's life at age 12 and 13 with Wood's character "Tracy" being...
. Soon a diverse fan base developed and magazines around the world began to take notice. Since forming, the Like have drawn major media attention and have been featured in magazines such as Teen People and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. They toured with Phantom Planet
Phantom Planet
Phantom Planet are an American alternative rock band from Southern California. Formed in 1994 in Los Angeles, the band consists of Alex Greenwald , Darren Robinson , Sam Farrar and Jeff Conrad . The band is best known for its track "California", which became the theme song for the Fox TV series,...
and Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
. In 2004, the Like signed to Geffen Records.
Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
The Like released their first album, Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? is the debut album by rock band The Like, released by Geffen in 2005 in the United States and 2006 in selected international markets including the United Kingdom. It features the singles "What I Say and What I Mean" and "June Gloom"...
, through Geffen on September 13, 2005. The album is a combination of reworked songs previously released on their independent EPs as well as new material. The reviews were generally positive. Krissi Murison of the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
had praise for such songs as "June Gloom" and "(So I'll Sit Here) Waiting", but criticized the "over-polished approach" of producer Wendy Melvoin
Wendy Melvoin
Wendy Melvoin is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy & Lisa....
.
The band performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
in April 2006 and at the Wireless Festival
Wireless Festival
The Wireless Festival is a music festival in England that takes place every year in Hyde Park, London, and took place at Harewood House, Leeds in 2006 and 2007. It is owned and managed by Live Nation....
in Hyde Park, London in June 2006. In September 2006, the Like supported Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
on a short string of tour dates in the U.S., before heading to Europe to support UK band Razorlight
Razorlight
Razorlight are a UK based indie rock band formed in 2002. They are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second...
.
Lineup changes and Release Me
Berg and Thomas went to Brooklyn, New York to record the Like's second album. (Froom had recently left the band.) They worked with producer Mark RonsonMark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson is an English DJ, guitarist, music producer, artist and co-founder of Allido Records. He currently works with his band under the music alias of Mark Ronson & The Business Intl....
, as well as Alex Greenwald
Alex Greenwald
Alexander Greenwald is an American musician, actor, and more recently a record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of the Californian rock band, Phantom Planet, which is on indefinite hiatus according to a blog posting on the band's official website.-Life and career:Greenwald was born in...
and various members of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the Dap-Kings are the house band. They are spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s...
. Departing from the sound of Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?, they were inspired by the music of classic girl groups, British invasion acts, and 1960s female songwriters. Greenwald played the bass guitar on all tracks.
On September 17, 2009, the band posted a message entitled "The Like 2.0" on their MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
blog. The message announced a new lineup: founding members Berg and Thomas, plus new members Reni Lane
Reni Lane
Reni Lane is a singer-songwriter and alt pop/rock artist hailing from Oregon now living in New York City...
and Laena Geronimo. This lineup toured with Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
in September and October 2009. Reni Lane has since left the band and been replaced by current band member Annie Monroe.
Downtown Records
Downtown Records
Downtown Records is a record label owned and operated by Downtown Music LLC. Music on the Downtown label is distributed by Universal Music's Fontana Distribution and, for certain releases, as a joint venture with Atlantic Records and also for select releases, by Alternative Distribution Alliance...
released the album, entitled Release Me
Release Me (album)
Release Me is the second album by the Like. Mark Ronson and other-produced quartet goes for a 1960's sound. Released by Downtown Records in 2010 in the United States and international markets including the United Kingdom. It features the singles "Release Me" and "He's Not a Boy"...
, on June 15, 2010. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
called it a "vast improvement" over Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? Los Angeles
Los Angeles (magazine)
Los Angeles magazine is a monthly regional magazine of national stature. Published by Emmis Communications and produced monthly since the spring of 1961, LA Magazine is a combination of award-winning feature writing, investigative reporting, service journalism, and design, the definitive resource...
magazine noted that the band "has gone retro-fab, with Farfisa organ, jangly Brit-pop guitar, and hand claps." Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote, "The tough girl group is hardly a new concept—ask Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
or the Donnas
The Donnas
The Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...
—but done right, like this, it's irresistible."
The band starred in a short film commissioned by designer Zac Posen
Zac Posen
- Early life :Posen was raised in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan, the son of artist Stephen Posen and corporate lawyer Susan Posen. His interest in fashion design started early, and as a child he would steal yarmulkes from his grandparents' synagogue to make ball dresses for dolls...
as a way to promote his Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
fashion collection. The film shows the band hanging out in a hotel room and then performing the single "Fair Game". The film was directed by Gia Coppola (granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
). The Like also appeared as themselves in an October 2010 episode of the TV series 90210
90210 (TV series)
90210 is an American teen drama television series developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS...
, and in issue 3 of the The Li'l Depressed Boy comic book.
Indefinite Hiatus
On the 23rd of May 2011 the band posted the following message on the official Facebook page..."The Like have cancelled all their upcoming shows, and the band is currently on an indefinite hiatus. There is no further statement from the band at this time."
Shortly after commenting on the wall was closed to "control the spam & integrity of the band ". As of October 2011 no further information has been released.
Albums
- Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? is the debut album by rock band The Like, released by Geffen in 2005 in the United States and 2006 in selected international markets including the United Kingdom. It features the singles "What I Say and What I Mean" and "June Gloom"...
- GeffenGeffen RecordsGeffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
(2005) - Release MeRelease Me (album)Release Me is the second album by the Like. Mark Ronson and other-produced quartet goes for a 1960's sound. Released by Downtown Records in 2010 in the United States and international markets including the United Kingdom. It features the singles "Release Me" and "He's Not a Boy"...
- DowntownDowntown RecordsDowntown Records is a record label owned and operated by Downtown Music LLC. Music on the Downtown label is distributed by Universal Music's Fontana Distribution and, for certain releases, as a joint venture with Atlantic Records and also for select releases, by Alternative Distribution Alliance...
(2010)
Singles
- "Falling Away" (2001)
- "What I Say and What I Mean" (2005)
- "June Gloom" (2006)
- "Fair Game" (2009)
- "Release Me" (2010)
- "He's Not a Boy" (2010) - Limited 500 print vinyl 7" release (UK)
- "Wishing He Was Dead" (2010)
Compilations
- ThirteenThirteen (film)Thirteen is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film's co-star. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Holly Hunter. It is a semi-autobiographical film inspired by Reed's life at age 12 and 13 with Wood's character "Tracy" being...
soundtrack - Nettwerk (2003) - The ChumscrubberThe ChumscrubberThe Chumscrubber is a 2005 dark comedy film directed by Arie Posin and written by Posin and Zac Stanford, starring an ensemble cast. The film focuses on the lack of communication between teenagers and their parents, and the prevalence of prescription drugs in American society...
soundtrack - LakeshoreLakeshore RecordsLakeshore Records is the independent music division of Lakeshore Entertainment . They started out as WILL Records.Will Records were started by Skip Williamson in the early 90s...
(2005) - War Child's HeroesHeroes (2009 album)War Child Presents Heroes is a 2009 charity album devoted to the War Child charity's aid efforts in war-stricken areas, such as Iraq, Uganda, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo...
- Parlophone (2009)