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/
Soundtrack Of My Life
Less Than Jake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My favorite song is on repeat but it's just not helping me
My eyes have been wider but never been brighter
Something else is going on, I need a reminder
Of why I feel this way
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
I still believe in facing all my demons
And everything that people promise, everything I've always wanted
My mouth has been open, my words have been stolen
And they've been used against me, it's starting to affect me
And now I feel this way
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
And it goes like this
And it takes me back
And it spins around and around
It goes around and always fades to black
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
The lyrics of Less Than Jake's song "Soundtrack of My Life" are a contemplation on the singer's place in the world and their relationship with music. They describe the feeling of being out of sync with oneself and searching for a reminder of why they feel a certain way. The repetition of their favorite song seems to have lost its power to soothe, and instead hints at an underlying problem. Lines like "My mouth has been open, my words have been stolen / And they've been used against me" reveal the source of the issue: the singer feels as though their voice has been taken from them and turned against them.
However, the chorus embodies a sense of hope, acknowledging that there is a difference between simply existing and truly living. The singer admits to having fallen behind, but refuses to give up; they are listening to the "soundtrack of their life" as a way to find their way back to feeling truly alive. The image of the song spinning around and fading to black suggests a cyclical nature to their struggle, but the singer is willing to keep fighting it. In the end, the song is an ode to the transformative power of music in helping us make sense of ourselves and our place in the world.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm on a mission to see what's been missing
I am trying to find the thing that is absent.
My favorite song is on repeat but it's just not helping me
I keep listening to my favorite song repeatedly but it's not making me feel better.
My eyes have been wider but never been brighter
I have been paying more attention but it does not bring more clarity.
Something else is going on, I need a reminder
I feel like there is something else happening and I need to remember what it is.
Of why I feel this way
I need to remember why I feel this way.
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There is a small difference between being alive and actually feeling alive.
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
There are times when I feel like an outsider looking in and not really part of things.
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
I am struggling and not doing well, but I am pretending everything is OK while listening to the music that defines my life.
I still believe in facing all my demons
And everything that people promise, everything I've always wanted
I still believe I can confront my inner demons and achieve everything I have always dreamed of.
My mouth has been open, my words have been stolen
And they've been used against me, it's starting to affect me
And now I feel this way
My words have been taken from me and used to hurt me, and it is beginning to take a toll on me emotionally.
And it goes like this
And it takes me back
And it spins around and around
It goes around and always fades to black
The music plays and it takes me back to the past, but then it spins around and around until it fades away.
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
I am listening to the music that has always defined my life.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Peermusic Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: VINCENT PHILLIP FIORELLO, ROGERIO LIMA MANGANELLI, SHELLY PEIKEN, LOUIS JAMES SCHAUB
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Thor Son of Odin
I'm on a mission to see what's been missing
My favorite song is on repeat but it's just not helping me
My eyes have been wider but never been brighter
Something else is going on, I need a reminder
Of why I feel this way
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
I still believe in facing all my demons
And everything that people promise, everything I've always wanted
My mouth has been open, my words have been stolen
And they've been used against me, it's starting to affect me
And now I feel this way
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
And it goes like this
And it takes me back
And it spins around and around
It goes around and always fades to black
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
Thor Son of Odin
I'm on a mission to see what's been missing
My favorite song is on repeat but it's just not helping me
My eyes have been wider but never been brighter
Something else is going on, I need a reminder
Of why I feel this way
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
I still believe in facing all my demons
And everything that people promise, everything I've always wanted
My mouth has been open, my words have been stolen
And they've been used against me, it's starting to affect me
And now I feel this way
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
And it goes like this
And it takes me back
And it spins around and around
It goes around and always fades to black
There's a fine line between
Living alive and feeling alive
There are times that I've been
Looking from the outside in
And here I go again
Falling behind, losing my mind
I'm pretending it's all right
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
Listening to the soundtrack of my life
Kevin C
I'm a better person than I would have been because of the sounds made. You have succeeded. Thank you.
Hugo Jasper
That was a very kind thing to say. I agree LTJ was the 1st Punk/Ska band I got into in the 90s and they have always helped me in life. 30 years and im still a fan
Matt Ayrton
I will never understand why this band is so unknown. they are great.
Ben Emery
Most underrated band of all time.
The Wee Hours
This song kicks ass, thanks for uploading! Great quality.
Im Just OP
I feel young again listening to these guys.
cobyflex
why are there so little views?! this song is perfect. it makes me feel damn happy with life!
songohan511
In With the Out Crowd, one of my all time favourite albums
Vašek Janků
I swear,if I wouldnt see the title,I wouldnt know if im listening to blink 182 or less than jake. Love it