It's been three years since Florida ska-punkers Less Than Jake has released a new album. In that time, they've gone on the Warped Tour, found another major label home (Warner Bros, after leaving Capitol just before their last record came out), and spent time road-testing new songs to see what belongs on this new album.
Said new album was released today, and, as a huge Less Than Jake fan, I was one of the first to grab it this morning at 10am. Titled Anthem, it is 14 tracks of matured songwriting, an effort that no doubt has it's shortcomings, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.
With 2000's Borders and Boundaries, the band seemed less interested in doing much at all with horns. The songs that did have horns were good, but it ultimately left the ska part of LTJ's fan base wondering where the ska had gone.
Ironically enough, one of the songs that did have plenty of horns on that record, has been re-recorded for this one: Look What Happened. I really liked the original, but the changes made to it here on this album work really well. First and foremost, the intensity of the song has grown a lot. Second, the adding of a female backing vocal on the last chorus (Heather Tabor, from The Teen Idols) sounds unbelievable. I think she complements Roger's voice really well. I've cranked this song a bunch of times today, I honestly feel it's a huge improvement from the original, which was good in its own right.
But why talk about the old when there is so much new to talk about? The standout tracks are many, the boring ones are very few. The Science of Selling Yourself Short is a straight up reggae song, not unlike what No Doubt did with Underneath it All or what the Bosstones did with Everybody's Better.
Short Fuse Burning is an intense track, with some really nice AC/DC style riffing from Chris and lyrics that really seem to just speak to me ("So I'm looking tonight for some piece of mind, maybe then I'll find some strength inside, cause I've lost any hope of ever changing, I'm a short fuse burning").
The band continues the light sounds with Motown Never Sounded So Good, a song that begins to burn up on the chorus, but the verses bring it back down to sanity.
Meanwhile, with Plastic Cup Politics, the band has come up with an extremely catchy number, alternating between breezy ska and breakneck punk in classic Less Than Jake fashion.
And for those who call the band sellouts for She's Gonna Break Soon, I'm not so sure. The radio seems to be playing a version where all the horns are edited out (not that they're that much up in the mix on the album, but the fact remains that they are there and they do add to the song). It's definitely a catchy tune, but I don't think it's "sell out" material.
Lastly, the band's cover of Cheap Trick'sSurrender is ok, but nothing great. In fact, it probably suffers from what some of the lesser tracks on this disc (namely Best Wishes To Your Black Lung and That's Why They Call It A Union) suffer from also: an over-reliance on blasting ahead punk style rather than creating a nice riff or cooling things off with some more ska.
All in all though, Anthem is a success. The band has continued to write about life in a general way without getting overly simplistic (as say Simple Plan), and they really seem to have conquered how to convey a feeling not just with lyrics, but with the music that backs it up as well. This album is no Hello Rockview, but so little is. Four stars and a very high recommendation to this one.
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