aaamusic | On 09, Aug 2010

As those of you who bought yesterday’s Sunday Times, or the recent issue of Elle magazine will know, it’s all happening for LA ladies The Like.

The Like returned to British shores back in May when they released He’s Not A Boy; the fantastically well received first single from their new album Release Me. Having recently confirmed Leeds & Reading Festival appearances plus support dates for The Strokes, and with Release Me set to come out on September 6^th through Polydor, the band have just unveiled the video for their new single Wishing He Was Dead.

Wishing He Was Dead is released on 30th August, a biting riposte to a cheating lover who might just regret his follies. Z Berg explains, “Wishing He Was Dead is a song for every girl who’s been conned, cheated, wounded, and bamboozled. After all, what girl hasn’t? It’s just a fun little ditty about wishing ill on the one who wronged you.”

With wry lines like “If I could snap that neck, that broken record trainwreck, I might feel okay…. ‘Cause I just can’t forgive and forget, When I’m through with him, He will be wishing he was dead”, this sharp stompathon rings out like a rumble between Nancy Sinatra and Girls Aloud, if they were to actually ask their men to deliver on ‘The Promise’.

Produced by Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams) with additional production by Thomas Brenneck and Homer Steinweiss (of The Dap Kings), and Alex Greenwald (Phantom Planet), Release Me, which is released on 6th September, crackles and pops with girlgroup sass.

At the band’s core is the partnership between founding members Z Berg (lead vocals, guitar and main songwriting duties) and Tennessee Thomas (drums) who formed the all-girl band when they were 15. While Z and Tennessee are understandably thrilled with Release Me, they’re also ecstatic about the two newest members of the band, Laena Geronimo (bass) and Annie Monroe (organ).

We were first introduced to The Like in 2006 when they signed to Geffen Records and released their debut album Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking to critical acclaim, and toured worldwide, playing Coachella, the Wireless Festival, and opening for bands such as Muse and Kings of Leon. The long awaited new album is the product of hard work, fortuitous new partnerships and great songs that reflect a long and winding period where the band has collectively been through it all and come out on the other side far stronger for the experience. Release Me heralds the arrival of a tighter and more enthused band, one with a stronger and deeper sense of who they are.

Fresh off their US tour with the Arctic Monkeys the band returned to the UK in May for a storming string of London dates and, following a tour of Australia with The Strokes, they will return to the UK in August for Reading and Leeds before hitting the road for a full UK tour in September:

28th Aug Leeds Festival
29th Aug Reading Festival
1st Sept Glasgow King Tuts
2nd Sept Newcastle The Cluny
3rd Sept Manchester Ruby Lounge
4th Sept Sheffield Plug
5th Sept Nottingham Bodega
7th Sept Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
8th Sept Birmingham The Rainbow
9th Sept Bristol Start The Bus
10th Sept Oxford Jericho
11th Sept Brighton Audio
13th Sept Cambridge Haymakers
15th Sept London ICA