Less Than Jake Haven't Forgotten Gainesville

06/04/08 5:00pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Against Me! have been getting tons of attention lately, but Gainesville, Fla.'s other sons, Less Than Jake, aren't about to let them monopolize things. They've made their hometown the subject of their GNV FLA album that's due on June 24 through their own Sleep It Off Records.

The 14-track GNV FLA was recorded at Chicago's Atlas Studios and produced by Matt Allison (Alkaline Trio, Rise Against). Many of the songs are about what it's like to live in Gainesville and other small U.S. cities during difficult economic times. GNV FLA isn't the first Less Than Jake album to prominently feature the city. The cover of 2000's Borders & Boundaries featured a map of the cities surrounding Gainesville.

GNV FLA's first single, "Does The Lion City Still Roar?," can be previewed on Less Than Jake's MySpace page.

Less Than Jake were a power pop trio when they formed in 1992. They eventually morphed into their current ska-punk incarnation and released their Pezcore debut in 1995. Their most recent album was 2006's In With The Out Crowd. Pezcore, Goodbye Blue & White, Losers, Kings And Things We Don't Understand and The People's History Of Less Than Jake DVD were reissued with expanded content earlier this year.

Less Than Jake's current lineup includes Chris Demakes (vocals, guitar), Roger Manganelli (bass, vocals, guitar), Vinnie Fiorello (drums), Buddy "Goldfinger" Schaub (trombone, bass) and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxophone, vocals).

Less Than Jake will perform at Sunrise Records' 336 Yonge St. store in Toronto at 1 p.m. on July 9 and will hit the stage at the same city's Kool Haus that night with Goldfinger, Big D And The Kids Table and Suburban Legends.

Here's what's on GNV FLA:

"City Of Gainesville"
"The State Of Florida"
"Does The Lion City Still Roar?"
"Summon Monsters"
"Abandon Ship"
"Handshake Meets Pokerface"
"Settling Son"
"Malachi Richter's Liquor's Quicker"
"Golden Age Of My Negative Ways"
"The Space They Can't Touch"
"Conviction Notice"
"This One's Gonna Leave A Bruise"
"The Devil Of The Party Has Left The Building"
"Devil In My DNA"