By Josh LaVoie
It’s been quite a while since I considered stopping a CD just so I could finish a review. Finding yourself daydreaming about a beach-front ska show in California as you find yourself singing along every 30 to 45 seconds gets downright annoying.
Less Than Jake’s Anthem is one of the fruits of 10 years of hard work. For a decade they have been providing solid albums and spectacular live shows to their dedicated followers and this album continues that tradition. The disc is varied and provides an edgier sound than their well received last album Hello Rockview, which should provide a bit more for the punkers to appreciate.
Aptly titled, Anthem doesn’t forget what has made Less Than Jake one of the most respected names in ska and delivers a bright, soon-to-be classic in the bouncy skanker "The Ghosts of me and You" and a quick punk-rocker in "The Upwards War and the Down Turned Cycle."
With this disc, Less Than Jake delivers the perfect summer album. No self respecting ska lover should be caught without this CD.