Less Than Jake is a popular ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. They are currently on the roster of Sire Records. One thing that distinguishes LTJ is their use of trombones and saxophones in songs. This is most notable in the earlier albums such as Hello Rockview, Losing Streak, and Pezcore. Their current line-up includes Chris Demakes (vocals, guitar), Roger Manganelli (bass, vocals, guitar on records), Vinnie Fiorello (drums, lyrics), Peter (JR) Wasilewski (saxophone), and Buddy Schaub (trombone).
Vinnie is also the owner of the independent record label Fueled by Ramen. This label has signed bands such as Fall Out Boy, Punchline, The AKAs and Gym Class Heroes. Roger, meanwhile, is in a second band, called Rehasher, for whom he composes lyrics and plays guitar. JR works with a promoting company called the CT Mafia, as well as composing solo music. He contributed one track to the Drive-Thru compilation tribute to Bob Dylan, using the band name "The Stay At Home Joneses" (interestingly, Roger sang backup for this track).
The band has contributed many of their songs to various multimedia projects, such as movies and video games. The song We're All Dudes was written exclusively for the soundtrack to the movie Good Burger; every other contribution is a song featured on one of their albums. All My Best Friends Are Metalheads is featured on the soundtracks for the video games Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and Street Sk8er, as well as for the movie ; from the same album as Metalheads, Help Save the Youth of America From Exploding was featured in the film Drive Me Crazy. Short Fuse Burning is featured on the Gran Turismo 4 soundtrack, while That's Why They Call It A Union is featured on the Tony Hawk's Underground 2 soundtrack. Surrender and Motown Never Sounded So Good are both featured on the soundtrack for the video game ATV Offroad Fury 3. Additionally, they have contributed a song - The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out - to the Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 compilation album.
Roger (the bassist) and Vinnie (the drummer) have an unexplained fondness for Pez candy, they actually own one of each Pez dispenser ever made and have new ones delivered directly to their homes. This love for Pez goes so far as to name one of their albums "Pezcore" (parodying of the way in which many bands are described as thing-core, starting with hardcore) and Pez dispenser motifs are a common feature of their merchandise.
They also have an album named The Pez Collection which is a collection of songs from Pezcore, Greased, Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand, Losing Streak, Hello Rockview and some tracks from some of their vinyl releases. This compilation was made for European release.
The members of Less Than Jake also served as backup musicians for Asian Man Records owner Mike Park in the B.Lee Band (once called "the Bruce Lee Band", changed for legal reasons).
Albums
Pezcore (1995, Dill Records/Asian Man Records)
Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand (1995, No Idea Records)
Losing Streak (1996, Capitol Records)
Greased (1996, No Idea Records)
Hello Rockview (1998, Capitol Records)
Pesto (1999, Very Small Records)
Borders and Boundaries (2000, Fat Wreck Chords)
Goodbye Blue and White (2002, Fueled By Ramen)
Anthem (2003, Sire Records)
B is for B-sides (2004, Sire Records)
DVDs
The People's History of Less Than Jake (2004, Fueled By Ramen)
Less Than Jake's official web site
All Music Guide entry for Less Than Jake
Vinnie is also the owner of the independent record label Fueled by Ramen. This label has signed bands such as Fall Out Boy, Punchline, The AKAs and Gym Class Heroes. Roger, meanwhile, is in a second band, called Rehasher, for whom he composes lyrics and plays guitar. JR works with a promoting company called the CT Mafia, as well as composing solo music. He contributed one track to the Drive-Thru compilation tribute to Bob Dylan, using the band name "The Stay At Home Joneses" (interestingly, Roger sang backup for this track).
The band has contributed many of their songs to various multimedia projects, such as movies and video games. The song We're All Dudes was written exclusively for the soundtrack to the movie Good Burger; every other contribution is a song featured on one of their albums. All My Best Friends Are Metalheads is featured on the soundtracks for the video games Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and Street Sk8er, as well as for the movie ; from the same album as Metalheads, Help Save the Youth of America From Exploding was featured in the film Drive Me Crazy. Short Fuse Burning is featured on the Gran Turismo 4 soundtrack, while That's Why They Call It A Union is featured on the Tony Hawk's Underground 2 soundtrack. Surrender and Motown Never Sounded So Good are both featured on the soundtrack for the video game ATV Offroad Fury 3. Additionally, they have contributed a song - The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out - to the Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 compilation album.
Roger (the bassist) and Vinnie (the drummer) have an unexplained fondness for Pez candy, they actually own one of each Pez dispenser ever made and have new ones delivered directly to their homes. This love for Pez goes so far as to name one of their albums "Pezcore" (parodying of the way in which many bands are described as thing-core, starting with hardcore) and Pez dispenser motifs are a common feature of their merchandise.
They also have an album named The Pez Collection which is a collection of songs from Pezcore, Greased, Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand, Losing Streak, Hello Rockview and some tracks from some of their vinyl releases. This compilation was made for European release.
The members of Less Than Jake also served as backup musicians for Asian Man Records owner Mike Park in the B.Lee Band (once called "the Bruce Lee Band", changed for legal reasons).