Like Young

Mention a band comprised of a married couple where the man plays guitar, the woman drums and both sing from time to time, and you can imagine the answer most people would come up with. That might mean that the Like Young spend the next little while in the shadows of another duo when their debut album, Art Contest, deserves at least a little time in the spotlight. Despite sharing those similarities with a certain ubiquitous band, the similarities end there. Joe and Amanda Ziemba (both previously involved with the bands Wolfie and Busytoby) are big fans of good power pop, making Art Contest a very likeable album and one that is very easy to listen to. With 11 songs speeding by in just over 24 minutes, very little time is wasted. The songs share some similarities to Weezer or OK Go, and most importantly making sure that the tunes are catchy, immediate and very, very hummable. There’s nothing here that could be described as particularly original, but Art Contest is a very enjoyable, honest-to-goodness pop album.