First post, first review. I’ll keep this simple.

Last Secrets (Polyvinyl) by The Like Young

The Like Young, if you haven’t heard, is a duo made up of the husband-and-wife team of Chicagoans Amanda and Joe Ziemba. Joe plays guitar while Amanda plays drums, but both sing and both have fantastic haircuts.

They often get compared to Weezer or, more predictably, to Quasi or Mates of State because of the boy-girl vocals. I really don’t know what it is about boy-girl harmonies, but to me they’re as yummy as chocolate. Some of my favorite bands (Versus, The New Pornographers, Stars, and lately Sid n’ Sadie aka Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs) all seem to use this disgustingly irresistible formula. It’s a very sneaky way of winning over music simpletons like me, but luckily, The Like Young have been pretty good at keeping their work interesting.

The Like Young won me over with their first album, “Art Contest”, which was filled with catchy hooky punky rock kept nice and simple with power chords, synths, and lively and solid drumwork. (Check out the video of “Snobs and Slobs” on their homepage.) I loved the follow-up, “So Serious”, just as much. “Last Secrets”, Album Number Three for The Like Young, isn’t the treasure trove of catchiness that the previous two albums were, but that’s not a bad thing. “For Money or Love” sounds very much like The Like Young that I know, but it seems like the two have become less reliant on simply “rocking.” We find that the guitar and drums have calmed down a little and that the Ziembas have been working on their songwriting chops, with pretty good results. The Weezer comparisons can still be made (just listen to “All The Wrong Reasons”), but some songs remind me of Ted Leo or of 90s indierock. The songs are much more interesting this time, and the energy’s still there. I’ve never seen them live, but I’m sure they’re a sight to see. Did I mention the haircuts?