CD Review: LIKE YOU TO ME gets poppy and punk-y on their self-titled debut

Taking their name from a Set Your Goals tune and their sound from New Found Glory, Maryland’s Like You To Me are another addition to the overflowing pop punk pool. Much like their main influence, Like You To Me delivers upbeat and fast-paced tunes, barely off-key hooks, bright melodies and more good vibes than a puppy roller-blading down a ray of sunshine.

Fans looking for a throwback to the heyday of Drive-Thru Records should find plenty here to enjoy. The big, hook-y anthems and peppy are sure to blast many of you back to a time when gas was cheap and Blink-182 was about to become the next big thing. However, nostalgia is about the extent of what Like You To Me have to offer. They’re a band that proudly wears their influences on their sleeves, and in a genre as limiting as pop-punk, one really has to strive for originality. These Marylanders seem to have little concern for that.

“Sofa King Desperate” and “You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat” are two of the disc’s biggest attention-grabbers, but there isn’t much difference between them and the rest of the album. Repetitiveness aside, Like You To Me delivers a fairly good time on their self-titled debut. If you’re a fan of energetic three-chord merriment, this one won’t muck up your collection.