Less Than Jake Are Losers Who Don't Fear Street Meat

You know those guys back in high school who you didn't altogether hate, but didn't necessarily like either? The ones that farted in class, wore leather and head-banged — even when there wasn't any music.

Yeah, you remember — the losers. Whether you remember them or were one of them, you probably won't have a hard time relating to ska-pop-punk rockers Less Than Jake's newest release, In With The Out Crowd.

"Oh man, we were definitely in the loser crowd, absolutely," guitarist/vocalist Chris Demakes says of the social caste his band belonged to. "We always kind of felt that way.

"Even as a band, we have always done our own thing and went against the norm, absolutely. But it's a good feeling. It's not a bad thing."

The Gainesville, Fla. band revel in their loserdom on the follow-up to 2003's Anthem, which hits stores on May 23 via Sire Records. Their eighth original studio album still jumps, jerks, rolls and bangs, and the quintet have written a batch of horn-infused ska-based rock songs that veer wildly between fun and serious.

"Oh we're still having a lot of fun, for sure," says Demakes. "The sentiment on the new album is still Less Than Jake.

"It still sounds like us. We're doing our thing. It's not that calculated. We go, we write as many songs as we can, sift through 'em, pick the best ones and go record them."

After playing, touring and recording for 14 years, do these losers ever feel old amidst the new crop of punk-pop wannabes?

"I don't feel old, particularly playing something like the Warped Tour, because we still get up there and deliver a really good fucking show," says Demakes. "The minute I feel like these kids are running circles around me, then I'll fucking feel old. But right now, as soon as we hit the stage it's like clockwork. Good times."

The good times continue on the new single, "Overrated (Everything Is)," where Demakes playfully yells about street meat — which he's enjoyed Canada.

"Street meat is not overrated. I fear no street meat. I've eaten hot dogs with some strange looking meat from every part of the world. I ate through the mad cow disease of Great Britain in 2001-2002. I feared no Whopper. When everybody else wasn't vacationing in Toronto with SARS, I was there eating street meat."