 
It may not seem it because they are forever on
the road touring but Less Than Jake have just
released their first album in over five years,
yes a massive five years and the great thing about
it is that Less Than Jake have gone right back
to basics and released an album which sounds very
similar to any of their earlier albums, now I
know a lot of people will put Less than Jake down
for this and cause a negative spin on things but
for the hardcore Less Than Jake fans this is quite
possibly the best news they have heard in a long
time as let’s face it ‘GNV FLA’
and ‘In With The Out Crowd’ were alright
albums and quite listenable but they lacked the
spark of earlier albums such as ‘Losing
Streak’, ‘Hello Rockview’, ‘Borders
And Boundaries’ etc and that’s what
make’s ‘See The Light’ such
an important and exciting release.
‘See The Light’ features 13 tracks
where the majority of extremely infectious and
‘Good Enough’ opens the album up with
a big horn piece and moments later the band blast
through the song at 100miles per hour with bouncy
basslines, infectious guitar riffs and enough
horn lines to keep the ska junkies pleased, whilst
front man Chris Demakes infectiously sings “We
were born into, Believing that it’s true,
what’s been good enough for them, should
be good enough for you”.
‘My Money Is On The Long Shot’ is
equally as infectious and happy sounding as the
opening track and straight away you can tell that
this song is going to be live favourite and is
going be played live at Less Than Jake shows for
a very long time as the energy running throughout
the song is enough the blast the roof of a venue
once the crowd start bouncing and singing-a-long
at the top of their lungs.
Instrumentally ‘Jump’ is rocking as
the band unleash some big rock riffs and sounds
but it is the infectious chorus which really makes
the song as Roger sings out “The sceptics
never make it through the static, automatic, your
desperate techniques to shake the stone, the sceptics
never make it through the static, automatic, step
to the edge and take the jump.
‘The Loudest songs’ is yet another
infectious track and reminds me of some of the
material from the bands ‘Borders And Boundaries’
whilst so does ‘Bless The Cracks’
and ‘John The Baptist Bones’ with
the later of the three tracks sounding like it
was written to be played whilst enjoying a beach
holiday in Hawaii but I am sure it will actually
be most enjoyed at a big sweaty and muddy festival
like Reading.
‘Do The Math’ shines so much due to
the fact that the song is lead by more a slow
horned section but once the song hits the 50second
mark it turns into an epic yet bouncy sing-a-long,
the song is huge and really does show Less Than
Jake at their best.
The later part of the album shows a more slow
side of Less Than Jake but the likes of ‘Give
Me Something To Believe In, Inc.’, ‘Sunstroke’,
‘A Short History Lesson’ and album
closer ‘Weekends All Year Long’ still
have the potential to be marked down as classic
Less Than Jake songs as they all shine in their
own way especially the later of the 4 tracks due
to its aggressive ska punk nature.
An album like ‘See The Light’ is what
Less Than Jake fans have been wanting for years
now and it is great to see that Less Than Jake
has listened to their fans and gone back to basics
in a short of fashion and created an extremely
infectious album which is a massive joy to listen
to and one that you can listen to time and time
again and still feel the same excitement for the
album as you did the first time to listened to
it.
Less Than Jake are back to their best and I personally
can’t wait to see them live when they return
to the UK in February with Reel Big Fish and Zebrahead
in toe.
4/5
Review by Trigger
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