Less Than Jake

To add to the discography:

• Borders & Boundaries (2000) -- Fat Wreck Chords
• Bootleg a Bootleg, You Cut Out the Middle Man (1999?) -- Fueled By Ramen Records
• Goodbye, Blue and White (1999?) -- Fueled By Ramen Records
• Crash Course In Being an Asshole
• Greased
• Hello Rockview
• Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand
• Losing Streak
• Pezcore

Awesome band, they put on one of the best live performances I've ever seen. They recently ended their contract with some big record label and have decided to go back to releasing on indie labels with Borders & Boundaries. The two latest albums on Fueled By Ramen Records were not really released they were only availble from LTJ's web site (listed below).

The band is very fan oriented. They even have a webpage devoted to helping fans get in contact with one another to trade LTJ related items. Like bootlegs and hard to find albums.

http://www.lessthanjake.com/

This is my favorite band.. the only band i know of that can cause a total emotional response in me but be happy music as well. They have changed over the years but still are as good as ever. They are excellent on CD but you havent really seen them until you see them live - they are the best live band i've seen. They sound even better than the CDs and they are totally excited and interract with the crowd and are just fun. Last time i saw them live was in a big auditorium with thousands of people - and they played my favorite song for me (Al's War) cuz i kept yelling for it. Less Than Jake have been associated with almost all the good things in my life including leaving home and getting together with my girlfriend.

On a side note, many people wonder where the name came from. Turns out, one of the band members' parents had a dog named Jake. The parents would treat the dog like the king of the house, bring it leftovers, let it do whatever it wanted, etc. But they treated their kids as 'less than Jake'. So now you know.

An expression used by gangsters and the like in the 1920's and 1930's.

If things were "Jake," then it was cool, there were no problems. If things were "less than Jake," something was sketchy, and people got on edge.

Less Than Jake consists of:

Chris: Vocals and Lead Guitar
Roger: Vocals ans Bass Guitar
Vinnie: Drums
Buddy: Trombone
JR: Saxophone

Less Than Jake were one of the pioneers of Ska-Punk, alongside The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. These were the first two Ska-Punk bands to include a horn section, although they have completely different styles. Operation Ivy, however, is recognised as the first Ska-Punk band. Less Than Jake brought together a blend of happy up-stroke guitar rythms and horn work which has since been one of the benchmarks for other similar bands such as Reel Big Fish, the UK-based [Spunge], and the lesser-known Mustard Plug.

Less Than Jake are also known as the most commercialised Ska-Punk band. Whilst they have become popular worldwide they have still stayed true to their roots and cannot be accused of becoming a sellout. One person who did accuse them of being a sellout was someone they nicknamed 'Johnny Quest', they subsequently produced a song called 'Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts' to poke fun at this person.

Information sources: http://www.lessthanjake.com and my friend Alex, a guru of punk music.