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/
Growing Up on a Couch
Less Than Jake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Are straight out of TV and magazines
And when comfort comes before truth
Can you say that you never knew,
Sitting in front of your TV,
Do you believe the lies
Given to us from another time
when your ideology is only right half the time
I'm growing up on the couch
The opening lines of "Growing Up On A Couch" by Less Than Jake highlight the impact media and societal influences can have on shaping one's beliefs, especially in the age of the television and magazine. The lyrics talk about the problems that arise when one prioritizes comfort over the truth. They question whether we are unwittingly believing the lies we see on TV, the media, and our surroundings.
The second verse touches on how our belief system may be built on half-truths and half of our ideology can be wrong, but we still think everything is fine. Less Than Jake seems to be suggesting that we need to be introspective about where we get our beliefs from, to question them, and to do the work of forming our ideologies, truly our own. They imply that the act of growing up on the couch has led to a generation of people who can't analyze the things they see.
In summary, "Growing Up On A Couch" is a commentary on how media and environment can shape our beliefs and raise the need to be more self-aware and critical of where our beliefs come from.
Line by Line Meaning
How many things that you believe
How much of your beliefs are influenced by the media and popular culture?
Are straight out of TV and magazines
Do you base your beliefs solely on what is portrayed by popular media?
And when comfort comes before truth
Do you prioritize convenience over honesty and reality?
Can you say that you never knew,
Can you honestly claim that you were unaware of the consequences of your choices?
Sitting in front of your TV,
Spending countless hours being influenced by popular culture and media.
Do you believe the lies
Do you give in to propaganda and accept false information without skepticism?
Given to us from another time
Being fed misinformation from previous generations.
And can you say that everything is fine
Do you believe that everything is going well despite evidence suggesting otherwise?
when your ideology is only right half the time
Holding contradictory beliefs that only work in certain situations.
I'm growing up on the couch
Spending too much time sitting around and being influenced by the media instead of actually experiencing the world.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Bryan Tauchert
Oldie but a goodie
Ldv Convoy
Bmx 😊
Chris
Bmx Inferno had this song!!