# A Girl Like You guitar solo > Jim Babjak's guitar solo on A Girl Like You by The Smithereens (1989) starts at about 2:30. Ranked #464 of all time across 80 lists. Canonical URL: The Smithereens, 1989. Solo by *Jim Babjak*. Babjak's snarling lead adds garage-rock weight to one of the band's best-known singles. A Girl Like You shows The Smithereens at their most muscular, and Jim Babjak's snarling lead guitar is a big reason why. His tone is thick and gritty, with a garage-rock edge that adds weight to the song's brooding melody. The solo is punchy and focused, built from strong, rhythmic phrases rather than long runs. Babjak's playing blends 1960s influences with a heavier modern sound, reflecting the band's love of classic rock and pop. Listen for the growling tone and the way the lead lines cut through the dense rhythm section, and for how the solo raises the song's intensity before returning to the dark, catchy chorus. A Girl Like You by The Smithereens is ranked #464 in our consensus of 80 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Jim Babjak and the song was released in 1989. It appears on 1 lists, placing as high as #91 (uDiscover Music). ## In our lists - [The 25 Greatest Power Pop Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/power-pop/) — #24 - [Top 20 Guitar Solos of 1989](https://greatestsolos.com/list/best-guitar-solos-1989/) — #8 ## Sources - [uDiscover Music: The Best Guitar Solos Of All Time: 108 Amazing Moments](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-guitar-solos-ever/) — #91 ### Who played the guitar solo on A Girl Like You? Jim Babjak played the solo on The Smithereens's A Girl Like You (1989). ### Where does A Girl Like You rank among the greatest guitar solos? #464 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 80 published lists; it appears on 1 of them. --- GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)