Less Than Jake
When: 31st March 2022
Location: O2 Academy
Less Than Jake, are the Gainesville, FL frontrunners in the ’90s ska-punk boom. They are coming to Glasgow’s O2 Academy for one night only on the 31st March 2022.
It didn’t take long for Floridian quintet Less Than Jake to shed their punkish power pop foundations and lean into the brass-based, ska-powered pop-punk that would become their calling card. Formed as a trio (vocalist/guitarist Chris Demakes, bassist Shaun and drummer Vinnie Fiorello). The band added horns in the early ’90s and forged a reputation via energetic live shows. Not to mention a series of well-received 7″s.
The band released their debut album Pezcore in 1995. This kicked off an impressive run of seminal ska-punk revival records. This continued through Losers, Kings And Things We Don’t Understand, 1996’s Losing Streak and Hello Rockville in 1998.
Even with an album roughly every two years, Less Than Jake still managed a dizzying amount of 7″s. As well as EPs in between. They were amassing a huge catalogue of grade A good-time ska-punk right through the ’00s. By the time they founded their own Sleep It Off label in 2008, they were more elder statesmen of the scene than brash young punks.
Founding member Vinnie Fiorello departed in 2018. He was keen to spend more time with his daughter and less time on the road. He was replaced as drummer by Matt Yonker. Yonker, had long been associated with the band as guitar tech, tour manager and more.
Despite a preference for EPs and singles, Less Than Jake returned to longer format releases in late 2020 with their eighth album Silver Linings, their first without the considerable songwriting contributions of Fiorello. To support the release, they announced a run of Less Than Jake UK tour dates starting in late March 2022, stopping off in Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Leicester, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol and London.
