The typical high school graduate doesn’t usually get tospend their fall semester on tour with some of the nation’smost coveted bands, but for the girls of The Like, this is justbusiness as usual.

Charlotte Froom (18), Tennessee Thomas (19) and Z Berg (18), whothey say “found each other magically,” started playingmusic together three years ago, and have since played a number ofshows in their home city of Los Angeles.

They are now on their first national tour supporting indie-rocksweethearts Phantom Planet.

“It was very nice of Phantom Planet to take us out.It’s been fun,” said lead singer and guitaristBerg.

It was apparent when I sat with the girls at Deep Ellum’sever-so-stuffy Franzini’s Pizza before their show at Treeslast Friday that, although they had chosen the lives of musiciansfor now instead of being college-bound (Thomas attended USC for ashort time before returning to the band full-time), theyweren’t any different than you and me, maybe just a littlemore talented.

We discussed their vegetarianism and attempts at being vegan(cheese is too good), driving (Z doesn’t, Charlotte avoidshighways) and creepy boys (one of the members of Hanson apparentlymeowed at Tennessee at an L.A. show).

Their name even stems from a bad habit we all have.

“There was about six months when every conversationrevolved around naming the band,” said Berg.

“Nothing was even acceptable,” added Thomas, but”one day my mom said ‘you all say like so much, whydon’t you just be The Like?'” – and itstuck.

Then again, the way in which we differ from thesemore-than-ordinary girls was evident the second I stepped in thevenue to hear their show.

Their set was impressive and, for an opening band, they drew alargely approving crowd, many moving closer to the stage from theshadows of the back of the venue during their first couple ofsongs.

Receiving approval as a female band from a crowd mostlycomprised of teenage girls eagerly awaiting Phantom Planet’sset is quite a feat to say the least, especially in Dallas, wherecrowds tend to be hard to please. But The Like deserves it.

The songs, all written and arranged by Z Berg, are complex,mature and, well, just plain impressive. Z’s singing wasimpeccable, her presence on stage surprising for someone of suchsmall stature!

Charlotte and Tennessee played along perfectly as well, takingthe young crowd through long, lingering melodies and strongchoruses.

The Like definitely understands dynamics, letting songs fade inand out beautifully, adding power to the performance.

Another aspect to be appreciated of The Like’s set is thefact that the drummer isn’t stuck in the back. The threegirls stood almost in a line on the stage that night,Tennessee’s small drum set, which she played with bare feet,in the middle.

The girls of The Like are clearly accomplished performers andit’s hard to imagine how they could get better from here.However, they’ll have a chance to practice their skills atthis tour’s close when they will be embarking on a 10-daytour of England, supporting friends Maroon 5.

London-area native Tennessee could not be more excited.

“It’s gonna be great to get to play at venues that Iwent to growing up — and my grandparents will get to seeme!” she said.

Upon their return to Los Angeles, they will be hopping in thestudio to record a full-length album.

For more information and CDs, visit www.ilikethelike.com.