Less Than Jake “In With The Out Crowd”
Album Reviews | Aug 5th, 2004
Record Label: Sire/Warner Bros
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With more than a month away from the release, SPAOJ gets a sneak peek at the brand new LTJ album. Featuring 12 brand new songs that shows the band progressing in quality, and production. As with the last few releases, Less Than Jake has been toning down the Ska aspect of their sound and focusing on their punk/rock edge. I think what has come out the last few albums are some of my favorite records from the band. When you compare records like “Pezcore” or “Losing Streak” to “Anthem,” and “In With The Out Crowd,” you see a different band. The songs are much more catchy with the new material and have less horns even though Pete and Buddy are still an integral part of the album and the band itself. While I enjoy all of LTJ’s albums, the newer stuff is more poppier, radio friendly tunes while previous albums are more raw, less produced and capture the punk rock/ska movements of the mid to late 90s.
Looking at the new record, the first track is “Soundtrack of my life,” which is a pretty straight up rock song that resembles a tune on the “Hello Rockview” record. “A Still Life Franchise” is one of the few ska type songs on the album and is one of my favorites. Most of the songs on the album are really fun and catchy, and I haven’t stopped listening to the album since I got it. Though, it’s a real pain in the arse that I can’t listen to this copy on my computer. “Overrated (Everything Is)” is the first single off the album and while it wasn’t my choice for the single, it’s a very good song. Fans got to choose the new single on the Alternative Press website, and I chose “The Rest of My Life.”To me, it’s the best song for airplay and is something new for the band. Using one of those rockabilly guitars, I got the feeling of a Social Distortion song but it stands on its own as well. The chorus is great too: “It’s going to kill me the rest of my life/Let me apologize while I’m still alive…” I keep humming that around work and at home. Excellent song. It should have been the single dammit.
Bottom Line: Less Than Jake prove to be getting better with the years, and as usual the album rocks, it will not leave my cd player.
Notable Tracks: The Rest of My Life, A Still Life Franchise,Overrated(Everything Is), Fall Apart, Don’t Fall Asleep on the Subway, Let Her Go
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