So I'm standing around the Great American Music Hall this January in San Francisco getting pumped to see Arthur Lee and Love when I find out that there's a band opening the set. 'Ugh,' I complain to my friend, 'It's gonna be some lame-ass psychedelic revival band I bet,' He responds with semi-rolled eyes and tells me their name is 'The Pleased.' I grimace, 'okay so not psychedelic, just lame-ass.' As I walked to the bar to grab another (what I thought would be) much-needed drink, The Pleased stroll onto the stage, charm the crowd with bumbling thank-you's, we're-not-worthy's and tales of acid, start playing their ghostly dream-inducing music and I sheepishly shuffle back over to my friend. 'I kinda like them.' The beautiful thing about The Pleased is the fact that the band is such a bundle of contradictions. This could possibly be the fact that these guys stem from such different areas ' basically Jersey to England and everywhere in between. Strictly based on the overall sound of Don't Make Things, I'd wager the band, though, to hail from New York City; today's breeding ground for Joy Division- and Cure-influenced (ripoff) bands. And I'd picture the members sitting in a dark corner with perfect hair and black suits debating with Interpol and Elefant the true victor the of Echo & The Bunnymen vs. U2 battle. But they just aren't that simple.