Brian's Thoughts About Things: #6: Less Than Jake

My American dream is to have it a little bit better than my parents ever had it

Next is Less Than Jake, who were for a while back in high school my #1 favorite.

Wiki Says: Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. Originally formed in 1992 as a power pop trio, the band evolved into a hybrid of ska punk. Less Than Jake have also been cited as showing influences from a wide variety of genres including post-grunge, heavy metal, alternative rock, third wave ska, punk pop and punk revival. To date, the group has released eight full-length studio albums and a number of singles and compilations. The current lineup comprises guitarist/vocalist Chris Demakes, bassist/vocalist Roger Manganelli, drummer/lyricist Vinnie Fiorello, trombonist Buddy Schaub and saxophonist Peter "JR" Wasilewski.

On June 24, 2008 the band released their latest studio album, GNV FLA, on their own label Sleep It Off Records.

Discovery: Pezcore (1995)
Losing Streak (1996) -Favorite album all time #14
Hello Rockview (1998)
Borders and Boundaries (2000)
Anthem (2003) -Favorite album all time #20
In With the Out Crowd (2006)
GNV FLA (2008) -#18

Other Releases: Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand (1996)
Greased (1997)
Goodburger Soundtrack (1997)
Goodbye Blue and White (2002)
Rock Against Bush vol. 1 (2004)
B is for B-Sides (2004)
Absolution for Idiots and Addicts (2006)

Favorite Songs: 20. We're All Dudes (Featuring Kel Mitchell)
19. Devil in My DNA
18. Escape From the A-Bomb House
17. Dopeman
16. National Anthem
15. Short On Ideas
14. Shindo
13. The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out/Screws Fall Out
12. 107
11. City of Gainesville/The State of Florida
10. Automatic
9. My Very Own Flag
8. How's My Driving
7. All My Best Friends Are Metal Heads
6. Plastic Cup Politics
5. The Last One Out of Liberty City
4. Look What Happened
3. Al's War
2. Best Wishes To Your Black Lung
1. Johnny Quest (Thinks We're Sellouts) -Favorite song all time #10

Years Active: 1992-Present

Seen Live: 4 times
July 2007-Sayerville, NJ
April 2008-Baltimore, MD
July 2009-Oceanport, NJ
June 2010-Baltimore, MD

Once again a top 10 band with only 1 top 100 favorite song. Less Than Jake is great on a much larger scale, hence why they have 3 of my top 25 favorite albums. I have 174 tracks by them on my iTunes, by far the most by any band. Their first 3 albums were of the big ska craze and very much some of the better ska-punk albums out there. Then they went a bit more pop-y following the fade of the ska craze. Then they went to a major label and put out a great pop-punk with horns (and still some ska) album, but a very non-LTJ sounding cd. Anthem is great if you look at it for what it is, fun, fast songs with horns, some ska. Their next full length was pretty horrible, and they know it and joke about it. Upon their release from the major label and starting their own they've gone back to their older sounds of fast ska/punk and it has been great.