Less Than Jake

Losing Streak (Capitol)
by Troy D.

Place your ska, punk, and pop in a blender, purée, chop, dice, pfleem, and frappe for five minutes. What’ya got? Less Than Jake aka LTJ. Less Than Jake are fortunately More Than Good. The punk side of their sound is reminiscent of Snuff and the ska component is, well, not so easily pinned down. I was never a fan of distorted guitar in ska, but this band may have turned me around. For some reason, the heavy guitar doesn’t seem as objectional when blended as only LTJ can (or is that diced?). The vocalist’s melodies are extremely catchy, although I’m not quite sure what I caught. Hopefully, the lyrics will progress as the band matures. Lord knows, being signed to Capitol is a great way to grow-up. I’ve heard their live shows are as full of energy as their CD, but I recently missed one. I know, I’m lame, my age is starting to take hold. I’ve been told that the crowd’s energy hovers somewhere ’round insanity level as the band tears through their pop-driven tunes. My first listen to this CD was at work and my cubicle nearly lost its walls from the ruckus, did I say cubicle? Scratch that. Remember, old man says: “Back when I was a young whippersnapper we didn’t mix our musical styles. We knew what punk was, we knew what ska was. Nowadays you damned kids are all confused, playing your damned distorted quitars so loud with your ska beats, what the hell are you thinking?”