Less than great
Gainesville is perhaps home to some of the most important punk rock bands that the world has seen: Against Me!, Gunmoll, Hot Water Music and a whole host of others have all broken out from that Florida town and on to the worldwide punk rock radar to much acclaim.
But perhaps the town’s most famous sons are Ska punk legends, Less Than Jake. Sealing the punk community’s continued interest in their town and literally putting it in the map by penning ‘Gainesville Rock City’; the band have further underlined its overwhelming musical importance in the punk world by naming their latest album after it.
Their first single from the new album ‘Does the Lion Still Roar?’ is the usual Less Than Jake fair; winding bass lines, an energetic horn section and impassioned vocals all combine to make that unique LTJ noise.
The band seems to have stumbled upon a formula that works and continually use it, for better or for worse.
Although this offering shows a band who haven’t musically or lyrically changed their style, they still remain one of the ultimate bastions of heartfelt, energetic ska punk and certainly one of the most bouncy and popular exports from their Florida town.