Less Than Jake have always reminded me of the kind of underachieving friend you had in school. Sure, you grew up with him, had a lot of good times, and still have good times when you meet up, but there came a point when you thought come on, dude, step up your game.
Well, to stretch this metaphor further, the guy has done some night courses, put a deposit on an apartment, bought some nice work shirts and is ready to kick ass. In other words, See The Light is easily the best thing Less Than Jake have done in years, maybe ever. Of course their fans have already taken to Youtube, bemoaning the decline of 'their' band, but I think LTJ are ready to take ska back to the mainstream. (Ok, maybe not, but it's really good guys).
Lead single My Money Is On The Long Shot shows that the band have finally ditched the 'punk' (aka poor) sound of previous albums and embraced easier on the ears production that enhance their melodies. Ska was never meant to be harsh. Madness and Bad Manners were like a warm hug for your eardrums. Now Less Than Jake are ready to become legends.
Opening track Good Enough is classic LTJ, while Jump is one of the best melodic punk songs I've heard in years and is probably my favourite song on the album. The contrast between the dual vocalists is something I always think the band should have used more, and a good chorus is made great because Roger takes it.
The first 5 songs are very strong. It's raining, it's November, but all I want to do is go on a road trip and eat ice cream with my friends! Bless The Cracks seems like it might be a slight sticking point for fans, varying between radio rock and a 77 rehash, but the chorus saves the song for me, would sing along in my bedroom and feel I 'really get the lyrics'/10.
It's not a perfect album, for the record. American Idle sounds like a bad Foo Fighters b-side and Sunstroke is a filler song if I ever heard one. But the lulls are few and always precede a quality song. Most encouraging, besides the better production values, is the step up in songwriting and the brass section.
While they will never reach the level of Streetlight Manifesto, songs like A Short History Lesson and Weekends All Year Long, the two songs that end the album, go a long way in filling the void left by Streetlight. I saw LTJ a few years ago and it remains one of my top 5 shows, this album has me hoping they'll tour near me again and not take 5 years for another release!
Rating: 9/10
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