Band: Less Than Jake
Release: ‘See The Light‘ (Album)
Release Date: 12/11/13
Less Than Jake are a band that are renowned for churning out solid and consistent ska punk and ‘See The Light‘ is no different to that notion and reputation. It kicks off proceedings with the flamboyant and bouncing ‘Good Enough‘ that rolls nicely into ‘My Money Is On The Long Shot‘, a cheeky number that incorporates all that is good with pop-punk and ska; brass, buoyancy and interesting lyrics.
‘Jump‘ is reminiscent of bands like Alkaline Trio, thundering non-whiney pop-punk with purpose, whilst ‘The Loudest Songs‘ keep the ska dream alive, trumpets banging along with drums and guitars to create something that sounds weirdly fresh.
I personally definitely prefer the ‘punkier’ edge that Less Than Jake embody and ‘Bless The Cracks‘ is a banger and a half. Although the brass still pipes up every now and then, it’s less prominent and the rhythm sections take the lead which is really cool to hear from a band that often rely heavily on all things golden-coloured.
Tracks like ‘American Idle‘ and ‘The Troubles‘ travel hard with percussion hard enough to smash through brick and punk riffs to rival the 70’s and, although the ska qualities of ‘Give Me Something To Believe In, Inc‘ are nothing to be messed with, I can’t help but feel that sometimes, only sometimes, LTJ rely on similarity; the easy option almost.
‘Weekends All Year Long‘ closes ‘See The Light‘ in the means in which LTJ mean to go on but in a slightly more ‘aggressive’ manner, if ska can be aggressive of course. All in all, this record is solid, the production and musicianship cannot be faulted and even if you hate ska, you will be in agreement with that fact. The only thing that is missing is variation but hey, who cares? Less Than Jake are pretty fucking cool!
7/10
Reviewer: Luke Davis
