About Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes , Roger Lima , Matt Yonker , Buddy Schaub , and Peter "JR" Wasilewski .
The group released its debut album, Pezcore, in 1995, following a series of independent seven-inch single releases. The band's subsequent two studio albums, Losing Streak and Hello Rockview , were released on major label, Capitol Records, leading to increased exposure. Borders and Boundaries was released in 2000 on Fat Wreck Chords. The band's fifth studio album Anthem was the group's 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 and its counterpart, Seasons Greetings from Less Than Jake . In late 2012, the band combined the two to create the compilation album, Greetings and Salutations . The band's eighth studio album, See the Light, was released on November 12, 2013.
The band entered the studio in 2016 to record their latest EP, titled Sound the Alarm, which was released in February 2017 through Pure Noise Records. Their ninth studio album, Silver Linings, was released on December 11, 2020.
Before the formation of Less Than Jake, vocalist and guitarist Chris DeMakes, drummer Vinnie Fiorello, and bassist Shaun Grief led a local band named Good Grief while attending high school in Port Charlotte, Florida. Good Grief broke up when DeMakes moved north to attend the University of Florida. On July 13, 1992, Less Than Jake was born. While Grief moved to New York City , DeMakes and Fiorello began writing songs on the weekends before Fiorello would join DeMakes at the University of Florida. When united, the pair decided they needed a bass player, but first, they wanted a name. Fiorello said:
We decided before we tried to get a bass player we'd zero in on a name for the "band" – to either – make it seem like we had our shit together or – make ourselves feel better. I think it was or maybe it was just so I could write it over and over again on notebook paper during my anthropology class.
Band members have told various media outlets different versions of the origin of the band's name. DeMakes has stated in interviews that the band's name came from Fiorello's family's pet parrot. His story claimed that the parrot would squawk during the band's practice sessions, leading to Fiorello's mother telling the band that they needed to stop playing because they were disturbing the bird. This would lead to the band referring to themselves as being "less than Jake". In June 2020, however, Fiorello clarified that Jake was not a parrot but was, in fact, an English Bulldog. After practicing with a different bass player for a couple of weeks, the band met Roger Lima, a guitarist who also attended the University of Florida. After Lima practiced with the band on guitar for a few hours, the band fired the current bass player and recruited him instead. Citing influence from Snuff, the band decided it wanted to add a horn section.
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