The band's name derives from a bird Vinnie had while growing up, which was treated better than the rest of the family. It's also a reference to the phrase "everything is jake," which is an old phrase meaning everything is cool.
Less Than Jake released their debut album, Pezcore, in 1995, following a series of independent seven-inch single releases. The band's subsequent two studio albums, Losing Streak (1996) and Hello Rockview (1998), were released on major label, Capitol Records, leading to increased exposure. The band's fifth studio album Anthem (2003) was their most commercially successful to date, featuring the singles, "She's Gonna Break Soon" and "The Science of Selling Yourself Short".
In 2008 the band founded its own label, Sleep It Off Records, and released its seventh full-length album, GNV FLA. The band has recently stated its preference for EP releases, and independently issued Greetings from Less Than Jake (2011) and its counterpart, Seasons Greetings from Less Than Jake (2012). In late 2012, the band combined the two to create the compilation album, Greetings and Salutations (2012) Their eighth studio album, See the Light, was released on November 12, 2013.
Miscellaneous Info:
Vinnie was previously the owner of the independent record label Fueled by Ramen, as well as a toy company called Wünderland War (formerly Monkey Vs. Robot). This label has signed bands such as Fall Out Boy, Punchline, The AKAs, Gym Class Heroes, Panic! At The Disco and Days Away. Roger, meanwhile, is in a second band, called Rehasher, for whom he composes lyrics and plays guitar. JR played sax on the last track of Off Key Melodies. JR works with a promoting company called the CT Mafia, as well as composing solo music. He contributed one track to the Drive-Thru compilation tribute to Bob Dylan, using the band name The Stay At Home Joneses (Roger sang backup for this track).
Roger and Vinnie have an unexplained fetish for Pez candy and they reportedly have sizeable dispenser collections. This love for Pez goes so far as to name one of their albums, Pezcore (parodying of the way in which many bands are described as [something]-core, starting with hardcore) and Pez dispenser motifs are a common feature of their merchandise.
Roger's employment history includes a smoke shop in the band's hometown Gainesville, Florida known as Knuckleheads which has since been transformed into a similar establishment named Smoke. Band member haunts have included Eddie C's, the Hardback (which was transformed into the Lyric), and Insomnia (which used to be the Covered Dish, and is now the new location of Common Grounds).
The members of Less Than Jake also served as backup musicians for Asian Man Records owner Mike Park in the B.Lee Band (once called "the Bruce Lee Band", changed for legal reasons).
The track "Look What Happened" appeared on two of their albums, "Borders & Boundaries" (2000) and "Anthem." (2003) The "Anthem" version is completely re-recorded, and has eschewed the brass at the beginning of the song that was featured in the previous recording. The re-recording features guest vocals from Teen Idols/Bullets To Broadway's Heather.
They have also re-recorded many other songs, including "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts," "Jen Doesn't Like Me Anymore" and "Shotgun".
They recorded the main theme song "We're all Dudes" for the 1997 film "Goodburger" based on the sketch from the Nikelodeon TV show "All That." The song features Kel Mitchell (main character, Ed, in the movie). The song is based off of the jingle "Ed" would always sing while waiting for the next situation to come up in the Goodburger sketches. At the end of the song Mitchell says "Ah, Ed and Less than Jake, oh, uh... no?"
In 2004, Less Than Jake appeared on the Projekt Revolution Tour, joining such artists as The Used, Snoop Dogg, Korn, and the headlining band: Linkin Park.
Lineups:
Chris DeMakes - vocals and guitar (1992–present)
Roger Lima - vocals and bass (1993–present)
Buddy ''Goldfinger'' Schaub - tenor trombone and backing vocals (1993–present)
Peter ''JR'' Wasilewski - tenor saxophone and backing vocals (2000–present)
Matt Yonker - Drums (2018–present)
Past members:
Jessica Mills - alto saxophone (1993–1998)
Derron Nuhfer - tenor and baritone saxophone (1995–2000)
Pete Anna - tenor and alto trombone (1998–2001)
Vinnie Fiorello - drums (1992–2018)
Website: http://www.lessthanjake.com/
Downbeat
Less Than Jake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everything's gone that you once knew.
Trying to rely on what things used to be
And trying to live up to your responsibility.
Everything's fucked up that you see.
Downbeats coming for you
And it's coming for me.
Downbeats coming and you can't hide
Standing on the front porch
While downbeats collide,
And downbeats coming up up
It's got a grin
And I'm left in this situation.
The song "Downbeat" by Less Than Jake talks about the struggles of dealing with life when everything seems to be going wrong. The lyrics express a feeling of being trapped and unable to escape from the downward spiral one may find themselves in. The repeated line "Downbeat, downbeats coming for you" emphasizes this sense of impending doom and creates a feeling of urgency throughout the song. The singer is trying to hold onto the past, but the reality of the present is too strong to ignore.
The chorus of the song talks about the downbeat coming for both the singer and the listener, generating a message of camaraderie and mutual struggle. The lines "Trying to rely on what things used to be and trying to live up to your responsibility" suggest a feeling of inadequacy and failure. The singer is unable to meet their responsibilities, and this failure also leads to a sense of shame.
The song is a reflection of the band's ska-punk style and their tendency to write socially conscious and politically sensitive songs. While the lyrics of the song express an existential crisis, the upbeat and energetic tune is a nod to the band's optimistic and "can-do" approach to life.
Line by Line Meaning
Downbeat, downbeats coming for you
You can feel a sense of foreboding as something bad is about to happen to you.
Everything's gone that you once knew
Things have changed so much that everything you once knew is no longer the same.
Trying to rely on what things used to be
You want things to stay the same and are hoping to rely on the way things used to be.
And trying to live up to your responsibility.
You're trying your best to fulfill your obligations and responsibilities despite difficult circumstances.
Everything's fucked up that you see.
The world around you seems to be in chaos and everything you see is messed up.
Downbeats coming for you
The negative consequences are coming for you and there is no way to avoid it.
And it's coming for me.
The negative consequences are also coming for me, no matter how much I try to avoid it.
Trying to rely
You are attempting to depend on something to help you through a difficult situation.
Downbeats coming and you can't hide
You can't escape the negative consequences and there's nowhere to hide.
Standing on the front porch
You're standing at the front of your place of residence, contemplating what's to come.
While downbeats collide,
The negative consequences are happening and everything is coming together in a negative way.
And downbeats coming up up
The negative consequences are getting closer and closer, and there's no stopping them.
It's got a grin
The negative consequences seem to be pleased with the situation and what's about to happen.
And I'm left in this situation.
You're left to deal with the consequences of the situation and are unclear about how to move forward.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sephirothxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks for uploading this <3
Ricky C
It needed to be, my girls bro jus seen LTJ live and he said he never heard of this album, hello rock view or borders and boundaries come to think of it he didn't kno losing streak, wtf???
EL TIPO☀️
You modified the original song by adding some trumpets that are hard