The Like at Found Music

February 23, 2003

Before watching Dark Blue, I caught an instore performance at Found Music by the Like, a band I’ve been trying to keep tabs on since I saw them open for Elvis Costello last year. They’re a local L.A. act with no record deal, so they’re a bit difficult to track. All three members are still in high school, so they don’t play particularly often, opening for the likes of Anna Waronker, Rooney and Phantom Planet when they do. I’m sure once all three graduate, there will be harder push for them to be professionals.

The instore seemed like quite the family affair, with a small merch table and cookies, sodas and chips layed out for anyone that walked in the record store. The store’s pretty small, stacked with lots of vinyl and used CDs. It’s a really cool store, but is only two aisles wide and has a horrible layout for an actual performance. You can go about four or five people wide, and really only the first couple of rows can actually see. As with the Knitting Factory yesterday, I could only see the performer’s heads bob up and down as they played. I’m getting a bit tired of the disembodied head performance and I’m going to have to start lobbying for stadium seating at these things or something.

Before the show started up I picked up both their EPs for $6, and the merch person tossed in a pin. I’m not much for pins, but I’m sure this “I Like The Like” pin will get stuck on something sooner or later. The performance was solid, about 40 minutes of dreamy pop songs interspersed with giggly chatter. All the songs seemed a bit more punchy than when I heard them first, and the material that was new to me all had a better sense of dynamics and song structure than what I remember from… gah, last year. The Interview Magazine writeup described the music as a mix of Radiohead, Cardigans and PJ Harvey, which is pretty far off, in my opinion. My friend pegged them as a more stripped down, less lush Stereolab, which is a bit closer. Judge for yourself and download a couple of their MP3s, (So I’ll Sit Here) Waiting and Falling Away.

Posted in From Blown Speakers