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Square Peg
Less Than
Jake returns to its roots with new CD,
GNV FLA,
and new label
By Alan
Sculley
 |
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Less
Than Jake performs June 18 at Revolution in Fort Lauderdale. |
Less Than
Jake’s 2006 CD, In With the Out Crowd, created more debate
among the band’s fan base than any of the group’s previous albums.
Even within
the band, there’s no argument that In With the Out Crowd
did not follow the stylistic blueprint the group had created on
its six previous albums. On that album, the band de-emphasized two
of its primary signatures — the ska influence in its punky rock
sound and the use of horns as a key element in the group’s overall
sound. And a large segment of Less Than Jake’s fan base clearly
didn’t like the change.
“They were
hoping for something a bit more fast-paced,” frontman Vinnie
Fiorello said in a recent phone interview. “We dialed it back down
for rock ’n’ roll basically. We had some good sort of punk and a
little bit of ska on it, but, for a lot of it, it was a very
mid-tempo record.”
Don’t get
the idea Fiorello has any regrets about In With the Out Crowd.
In fact, he believes the album was still instantly recognizable as
a Less Than Jake record and that it gave the band an important
opportunity to grow musically.
“In With
the Out Crowd provided that well-needed release that we had to
do something else,” Fiorello said. “We were writing differently.
We weren’t writing the same way that we had written records
before. That’s what came out. Looking back and hindsight being
20/20, it gave at least a rest from the style that we play all the
time. And that’s a good thing for me.”
But while
Fiorello remains proud of In With the Out Crowd and
willingly defends the album, he doesn’t expect to encounter those
problems when Less Than Jake’s next CD arrives June 24.
Called
GNV FLA (the former city code used by airlines for the band’s
hometown of Gainesville, Fla.), the new CD is being touted as a
return to Less Than Jake’s musical roots.
Fiorello,
though, made sure to put such talk into the proper perspective,
noting first of all that GNV FLA is not a throwback record.
“The new one
doesn’t dabble in pop music,” he said. “The new one sticks its
guns to the punk and ska side of what Less Than Jake is. That’s
why I say it’s a record that when people listen to it, it’s
undeniably Less Than Jake.”
The GNV
FLA CD opens a new phase of business for Less Than Jake, which
also includes guitarist Chris Demakes and bassist Roger Manganelli.
After releasing In With the Out Crowd and the 2003 CD
Anthem on Sire Records (part of the Warner Bros. Records
group), Less Than Jake is releasing
GNV FLA
on its own newly formed label, Sleep It Off Records.
According to
Fiorello, the band didn’t feel like it belonged in the world of
major labels, where record companies have narrowed the stylistic
range of acts they want on their rosters and have become more
focused on acts they feel have mainstream potential.
“When a band
starts to feel like a square peg in a round hole, it’s time to go.
There’s no reason to try to fit it in there,” Fiorello said.
Starting a
record label is not new to Fiorello. He co-founded Fueled by Ramen
Records, a label that became a prominent player in the music
business after signing Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco. But
Fiorello recently split with that company and is taking a
different direction on the label front. Sleep It Off will release
only Less Than Jake Records, while a second label he has started,
Paper & Plastick Records, will sign melodic punk rock acts.
The melodic
punk scene is something Fiorello knows well. It inspired him to
form Less Than Jake in 1992.
The
fast-paced ska/punk sound prominent on
GNV FLA
is the style that defined Less Than Jake on early albums, such as
the 1995 debut Pezcore and Losing Streak (1996),
and, in fact, put Less Than Jake at the forefront of the entire
mid-1990s ska/punk movement that also included the Mighty Mighty
Bosstones, Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger.
Fans who see
Less Than Jake’s Shout It Out Loud tour, beginning in June, will
be the first to hear songs from
GNV FLA.
The tour, organized by Fiorello, will feature two other veteran
ska-punk bands, Mustard Plug and Goldfinger, each playing about
half of the dates as featured opening acts.
Although
Fiorello didn’t disclose any specifics, he said fans can expect a
show that involves more than music.
“Last year,
we did sort of a knock-off of The Price Is Right, where we
had kids come up and have contests,” he said. “We’re definitely
bringing production, definitely dressing it up, because that’s
what we do. We like to at least be entertaining. They might dig
the music, but I also want them to leave seeing a show and being
entertained.”
Less Than
Jake performs at 6 p.m. June 18 at Revolution, 200 W. Broward
Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $18.50 at ticketmaster.com. |
.JPG)
