GAINESVILLE’S FINEST, LESS THAN JAKE RETURN WITH TWO NEW BACK TO BASICS SINGLES

SINGLE REVIEW | LESS THAN JAKE – WALKING PIPEBOMB/BROKEN WORDS by Craig Harston

Less Than Jake have always been champions of the socially awkward. Whether on the mad at the world ‘She’s Gonna Break Soon‘, the ennui with your surroundings on ‘History Of A Boring Town‘ or facing past mistakes with ‘The Rest Of My Life‘, they’ve always provided a voice and an outlet for the disenfranchised.

First track ‘Walking Pipebomb‘ feels like a throwback to old school Less Than Jake. A super-fast ska punk song all about how the goings on in the world can get the better of us, how those who are negative about things are the ones who shout the loudest and eventually get to the point where they want to explode. It features great alternating vocals on the verses from Chris DeMakes and Roger Lima, with both harmonising on the choruses, a great ska riff throughout and excellent horns on the bridge.

‘Broken Words‘ on the other hand puts more focus on how difficult it can be to get the right words out or even to say the right thing in general. Sounding more like modern LTJ, it’s a blend of pop punk and ska with Roger taking the lead on the vocals here. It kicks off with a crunchy opening guitar riff before the drums, horns and bass join in and Less Than Jake deliver their usual standard of some pretty great lyrics: “I try with all my might, to get my sentences just right, so I say just what I meant, but it gets all fucked up instead, it’s like words are broken again”.

Less Than Jake have been a pretty consistent band within the punk scene for over 30 years now and although they don’t release music as often these days, when they do drop something it rarely disappoints. Both songs found here perfectly encapsulate what Less Than Jake are all about, musically and lyrically.

‘Walking Pipebomb‘ and ‘Broken Words‘ are available to stream now and a 7″ bundle (with a pretty banging t-shirt) can be pre-ordered via Pure Noise Records.

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Craig Harston

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