Release Me is the title of the second studio album by American girl band The Like, which was released this summer. It’s the first in five years, and the first with the quartet constellation of Elizabeth ‘Z’ Berg (vocal and guitar), Tennessee Thomas (drums) and the relatively new members Annie Monroe on organ and Laena Geronimo on bass. It’s poppy pop and alternative rock, it’s a retro British Invasion sound and sixties dresses. It’s a band – not just a girl band – with an attitude, and I expected nothing but a party on Monday night.
As often before, Magnet Club was not at all full by the concert start, but there was, if not a decent, then at least a dedicated crowd, who gathered in front of the stage when the girls started off with Catch Me If You Can. It was tight, energetic and loud from the first note, and the front girl Z Berg was as charismatic and present as ever. With a tiny dress, painted eyes and the crispest voice, she took over the venue and managed to hold on to everybodys attention until the very last breath.
They continued with the hit He’s Not A Boy and the title track Release Me, and after a little hour they had played the whole album for us, with highlights such as Wishing He Was Dead and Narcissus In A Red Dress, the latter especially because it’s a little bit more downbeat than the rest, which came as a nice breath of air. As an encore they finished off with a cover version of Rolling Stones’ Let’s Spend The Night Together, which fitted perfectly into their style.
The sound was great, even though some of the details got lost in the loudness, it was all very well played, and there was so much professionalism, energy, and coolness on stage, that you found yourself asking for more when it was over. It took an hour, but it felt like fifteen minutes. I was a bit afraid that it would be too much of a sixties rock band parody, but the music is original, the songs are extremely well-crafted and catchy, and I had the party that I was hoping for. The only thing I might want to add, is that The Like deserve a Friday night and a bigger crowd.
