Less Than Jake - Gnv Fla

GNV FLA. Mark that as your destination to be one with Less Than Jake, an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. Originally formed in 1992 as a power pop trio, the band evolved into a hybrid of third-wave ska and punk pop, with added elements of modern rock and even metal. GNV FLA is the seventh full-length studio album from Less Than Jake. The album's title is an abbreviation of the band's hometown, Gainesville, Florida. Album Description

Still Shocked

I love this album. I bought it on the release date and have listened to it countless times since then. I have been a die hard LTJ fan for close to ten years, and I was disappointed by their last two albums. (I'm 21 thats a long time btw haha) Well this album definitely returns them to greatness.

The ska is back, and so is the HIGH energy pop-punk. This album contains some of the best horns ever on a Less Than Jake album. I mean check out Lion City the horns, along with the entire song, are just amazing. I also think Vinnie's lyrics on this album are the deepest and most intelligent ones he has written. Another reviewer said he felt the lyrics were like reading a novel, they took that as a bad thing. I highly disagree, the lyrics are deeper, more intricate, but are surely still damn catchy and sing-a-longable. Roger lays down awesome bass, as to be expected, he is one of the best out there. He also plays some sweet guitar riffs on this album as well, esp. Settling Son. (to those of you who don't know Roger records most of the guitar tracks on the album and has done so since Pezcore)

In short a GREAT album, I personally think its their best since Losing Streak. I put it even with Hello Rockview.

Best tracks

Does Lion City Still Roar?
Handshake Meets Pokerface (lyrics really hit home on this one for me)
Then the last three tracks on the album because they blend together so well. (This One is Gonna Leave a Bruise,Life of party has just left the building, and Devil in my DNA)

Weaker Tracks (none are bad just a little weaker)

Conviction Notice
Malachi Richter's Liquor' Quicker July 21, 2008

Old school ways coming back...

Less Than Jake, is one of my (3) favorite bands of ALL times, (Rancid & Goldfinger)...

Proud of the boys for "ditching" the idea of NOT putting horns in every song just because they have them. Yes, one of the main reasons we listen to LTJ is because they have horns. Its their staple sound.
...and they figured that out. There are horns all over the new CD.

After all, when you choose to listen to an AC/DC tune, you are not expecting a ballad and soft vocals... its AC/DC and you know it.

By the way, I went to the LTJ show last night at the H.O.B. in New Orleans... they were at the top of there game !!! Fantastic show, sounded great, and as always, LTJ played only (3) songs from the new CD and played tons of old tunes. They played for 1-1/2 hours and did a (3) song encore... (Gainsville Rock City, Dope Man and Plastic Cup Politics) ...outstanding show!!!

Back to the new CD;
With "Hello Rockview" and "Borders and Boundaries" being their two best CD's to date, (I would rate them as 5 stars) GNV FLA gets close but falls a bit short (almost 4 stars.) To me it sounds like the latter (2) CD's I mentioned, but a bit more mature than those two CD's (musically).
The lyrics, however, are like novels. Way too many words in each song, to crowded with lyrics, they need to let their tunes breath a bit.

GNV FLA lacks vocal hooks...

I have been listening to the CD since its release (and digging it) and found only 2 or maybe 3 vocal hooks on the whole CD. Hell, when I want to sing along with one of the songs, I get the lyrics sheet out of the inside cover and each song is like reading a novel. Who wants to do that.

Anyway, that is my 1 and ONLY complaint with GNV FLA, too many lyrics and not enough vocal hooks. Well, that is technically 2 complaints.

The sound production is great, as always, the horns are back, finally, and musically, the mature LTJ sound is great! just too many lyrics.

This CD is definitely worth the buy, if you like Ska and Punk!!!
...and the show is one you DO NOT want to miss!
So, enjoy both.

Lil' Gleason July 17, 2008

Returning to their roots

this is the most definately one of the best CD's LTJ has put out since "hello rockview" and seein as they fell flat on their faces with the last album you wont be disapointed and youll probebly be skanking in your room while listening to it July 17, 2008

Doesn't quite live up to the hype

So the story goes that this is "the comeback CD" by this band, the so called return to form, and in some sense, it is. Since the last CD "In with the Outcrowd" we see a lot of the old Less Than Jake coming back. We have the horns-a-plenty concept back at the front line, we have Roger's insanely techy underlying basslines, and the ever so catchy ska-guitar. This will remind you more of Hello Rockview than it will Anthem or their previous release. However, I'm hesitant to call it a comeback CD because there's something that's just eating away at my conscience.

That is catchiness. I wanted to fall to me knees and scream "It's the second coming" but it's not. The songs, while they are horn driven and most certainly more ska than radio friendly pop-punk, the songs aren't as fun as they used to be. A lot of the songs take on a depressing tone, especially the songs where Chris does the singing. Noteably the song "Abandon Ship" is just downright dismal. I will give them credit for "Lion City" the quasi single, as well as a good bunch of songs like "Golden Age of my Negative Ways" and "Space they can't touch" but a lot of the songs just blend together and aren't that good. Then, when they try to be fun, like on "Conviction Notice," it becomes repetitive and corny. Sure, Less Than Jake doesn't always sing about happy things, but before, such as on Losing Streak, they managed to make a song about selling drugs into the most upbeat fun song on the CD. Here, when the subject matter is bleak, the music is bleak.

Not saying that this CD isn't fun, it does have it's moments. Instrumentally this might be Less Than Jake's best CD. We have Chris busting out some neat guitar licks, Roger's bass is astonishing like it used to be, and we have horns literally everywhere. It just seems like in and effort to re-invent themselves, the boys forgot to have fun with it. Three and a half stars for a solid effort to go back to the glory days, but we're not quite there. July 16, 2008

Back to their Roots

I hated LTJ's last cd, In with the Out Crowd. It was a publicity stunt in my opinion, all emo/pop-punk stuff, which if you're into is fine..but that's not what LTJ was founded on..in fact, when I saw them, their trombonist did more jumping than playing..But this cd revived them in my opinion. Some songs are a little iffy, but the majority of it is back to ska. July 8, 2008

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