A love letter to Less Than Jake....
- Cha Cha Cherry
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 14
This is the old dude, Howie J. Reynolds....And you're listening to Less Than Jake...
If you are a Less Than Jake fan, you KNOW that intro is the opening to one of their first and most popular songs, Automatic. I first heard this song back in college in the late 90s when I was just getting into ska punk when it was at it's height. I heard a cover band at the Jersey Shore (The Fuzzy Bunny Slippers) play it and I was sold. (The same cover band I first heard a Goldfinger song.) And just like that, I became an instant fan of Less Than Jake. I've had a love affair with Less Than Jake for almost 30 years now. I mean I'm old skool Less Than Jake - I still have all my CDs including the Greased album (yes they did a ska punk album of all Grease songs).
Who is Less Than Jake?
Formed in Gainesville, Fl back in 1992, Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band that released it's first album, Pezcore, in 1995. Shout out to original drummer/founding member Vinnie Fiorello, who is from, drumroll please, RAHWAY, NJ! YES! A Jersey boy helped found one of my absolute FAV FAV bands but is also responsible for it's curious name. Jake was Vinnie's family dog growing up who was treated like royalty, better than anyone else, hence everyone was "less than Jake." Sadly, Vinnie left the band in 2018 but was kind enough to send me a pic to send to my daughter a few years back that he had to actually go find and take a photo of a photo to send us (what a nice dude).
Less Than Jake has been touring worldwide, headlining such shows like Vans Warped Tour (this girl saw them at it in Asbury in the early 2000s when HoJo's was still in business) for almost 30 years. The cool thing about LTJ is you now see people my age bringing their kids to the show, like me! LTJ was my daughter's first (and last actually) concert.
Their music is just fun, energizing and makes me damn happy. They got great lyrics that make you want to sing out loud. And at the end of the day, just super cool dudes. I regularly will shoot founding member / guitar / vocals Chris DeMakes (who also has a very cool podcast) a rando message and he will respond. Even cooler than me is my kid - a few years ago she started watching Roger Lima, bassist / vocals (also from equally awesome Rehasher band), stream Fortnight. The next thing I know, my kid is playing Fortnight with Roger and his teen son and is on a first name basis with Roger. Like WTH, I've been a fan since the 90s and my kid is friends with the band! Her first concert, she got to meet her fav bass player, get a hug, a pic and a guitar pic! Ok whatever dude but was she doing shots with the band in 1997 at Hunka Bunka like I was? Liking ska punk as a cute girl in the late 90s had some advantages. But I digress...
My kid and I saw our most recent Less Than Jake show at Hunka Bunka, I mean Starland Ballroom. I legit have lost count how many times I've seen Less Than Jake in concert over the last almost 30 years. And it doesn't get old. I still want to hear songs from the late 90s and of course, their new stuff. I still want to see Evolution Kid on stage. I still want to see (and avoid) the toilet paper gun. I still want to see the circle and people skanking around it. The last show at Starland, part of their Summer Circus 2025 tour, brough just that. And this little ska punk girl and her mini me couldn't have been happier. They even played a punk version of Animaniacs. Come ON!
All I can hope for is that LTJ keeps doing their thing and I'll be watching them with my grandkids one day. Thank you Less Than Jake - Chris, Roger, JR, Buddy, Matt and of course Vinnie, for being one of my fav bands for the last 20-something years and bringing me joy - and my kid joy.
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