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/
Look What Happened
Less Than Jake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I swear it's my last try
And we'll walk in circles around this whole block
Walk on the cracks of the same old sidewalks
Then we'll talk about leaving town
Yeah we'll talk about leaving
I swear it's the last time
And I swear it's my last try
We rode across that bridge all night
We talked our way through city lights
Traced all the lines, were killing time
Under those buzzing signs
From downtown to anywhere but here
Tonight yeah I swear to these rooftops
And just hoped that car would never stop
And I swear it's the last time
And I swear it's my last try
And we'll walk in circles around this whole block
Walk on the cracks of the same old sidewalks
And we'll talk about leaving town
And we'll talk about leaving
I swear it's the last time
And I swear it's my last try
We drove around this place all night
Past closed signs and familiar sights
We're moving by, passing time
Counting those center lines
With twenty thousand lines left to go
That lead to somewhere I don't know
It might be the time that we leave this all behind
And I swear it's the last time
And I swear it's my last try
And we'll walk in circles around this whole block
Walk on the cracks of the same old sidewalks
And we'll talk about leaving town
And we'll talk about leaving
I swear it's the last time
And I swear it's my last try
And there's been a few times
That we, we thought it felt right
To take the westbound signs
And just leave town tonight
And I swear it's the last time
And I swear it's my last try
And we'll walk in circles around this whole block
Walk on the cracks of the same old sidewalks
And we'll talk about leaving town
And we'll talk about leaving
I swear it's the last time
And I swear it's my last try
And I swear it's my last try
And we'll talk about leaving town
And we'll talk about leaving town
The song "Look What Happened" by Less Than Jake is about a couple trying to flee from a mundane routine and everyday life. The couple is tired of walking the same old paths, talking about leaving town but never really doing it. They've tried to break out of this pattern before but have always failed. The song talks about how they both know that this is probably their last chance to make it work and that they need to take the leap of faith instead of just talking about it.
The lyrics highlight their longing to escape and leave town, but the song doesn't specify where they want to go. Instead, it focuses on their desire to break out of their routine and explore something new. They ride across the bridge all night and talk their way through city lights, but it's not enough. They're just killing time and counting the center lines while hoping that they'll eventually find something more than what they've got.
Overall, the song is about trying to find something better in life and breaking out of routine. It's a relatable theme for many people who are looking for more in life and trying to figure out how to get it.
Line by Line Meaning
And I swear it's the last time
I promise that this is the final attempt.
And I swear it's my last try
I promise that this is the ultimate effort.
And we'll walk in circles around this whole block
We'll stroll in loops around this neighborhood
Walk on the cracks of the same old sidewalks
We'll step on the crevices of the familiar pavement
Then we'll talk about leaving town
Afterwards, we'll discuss escaping from this place
Yeah we'll talk about leaving
We will indeed discuss leaving
We rode across that bridge all night
We traveled on that bridge throughout the night
We talked our way through city lights
We conversed during the illumination of urban lights
Traced all the lines, were killing time
We followed all the paths, wasted time
Under those buzzing signs
Beneath those humming billboards
From downtown to anywhere but here
From the city center to a place far from here
Tonight yeah I swear to these rooftops
I promise to these rooftops tonight
And just hoped that car would never stop
And simply hoped that the car would never halt
We drove around this place all night
We raced around this location all night
Past closed signs and familiar sights
Beyond closed and known landmarks
We're moving by, passing time
We're traveling and killing time
Counting those center lines
Tallying those median markers
With twenty thousand lines left to go
With 20,000 stripes still remaining
That lead to somewhere I don't know
That directs towards an unknown destination
It might be the time that we leave this all behind
Perhaps now is the time to abandon this all
And there's been a few times
There have been moments before
That we, we thought it felt right
That we believed it was proper
To take the westbound signs
To follow the westward signs
And just leave town tonight
And escape this place tonight
And I swear it's my last try
I promise that this is my ultimate effort
And we'll talk about leaving town
And we will discuss leaving this place
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER DEMAKES, LOUIS JAMES SCHAUB, ROGERIO LIMA MANGANELLI, VINCENT PHILLIP FIORELLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind