LESS THAN JAKE ā€“ GNV FLA (Sleep It Off)
Original release date: June 24th, 2008
While Iā€™m a huge Less Than Jake fan, even Iā€™ll admit that 2006ā€™s In With The Out Crowd had more than its share of duds, and many of the winning tracks shied away from their trademark ska-punk style. Not knowing whether that album was to be an aberration or the start of a trend, I played GNV FLA with a sense of apprehension.
The atypically subdued opener City Of Gainesville had me wary, but my fears were unfounded, as it plays directly into the comfortingly breakneck blast The State Of Florida: the bandā€™s vintage sound is back.
The geographic theme doesnā€™t stop with those two song titles ā€“ the quintetā€™s hometown of Gainesville, Florida is a major recurring character in the lyrics throughout the album (hence its name). The record is also a tribute to their musical as well as physical roots: while their last three albums have featured the occasional ska song thrown out like a bone to appease older fans, this album is drenched in upstrokes and summery rhythms married with punk energy.
Co-lead vocalists Roger and Chris are full of passion on tracks like Handshake Meet Pokerface (a tribute to a motherā€™s sacrifices for her sons) and Abandon Ship (hopelessness has never sounded so upbeat), and Scott Klopfenstein from Reel Big Fish adds trumpet to the existing horn section of Buddy and JR throughout, drenching numbers such as the frenetic Summon Monsters in brass. The opening gambit of using a quiet song to to lead into a louder one is repeated with the seamless transition from The Life Of The Party Has Left The Building to Devil In My DNA, but apart from those exceptions the album is raucous and fast all the way through. Golden Age Of My Negative Ways is short but razor sharp and catchy as hell; however, my pick of the litter is the euphoric Conviction Notice with its irrepressible ā€?na na na naā€¯ chorus.
My first reaction was that this was a return to form. After repeated listens, Iā€™ll go further: Iā€™d recommend this to an LTJ newcomer as much as their previous career best, 1998ā€™s classic Hello Rockview.
Owen Heitmann
