Less Than Jake, Borders and Boundaries

I think that "Borders and Boundaries" album is awesome. It has a bunch of cool songs including "Gainesville, Rock City" and "Magnetic North" among others. It has a cleaner sound than any of their previous records. To me the change in sound isn't a bad thing. I like pretty much anything by Less Than Jake whether it's Pezcore or Anthem, I don't view them as sellouts or anything like that. It's their music and if they want to take it in a bit different direction, I think it's cool. This is definitely a cool album.

Less Than Jake, Borders and Boundaries - To me this album was the beginning of the end for Less Than Jake, signs of a switch from Ska to straight 'punk with a horn section' were evident on Hello Rockview, but this album is seriously devoid of ska. Although it is admittedly true to previous LTJ records on other levels; the lyrical content is still very similar, Roger's bass playing mightiness remains unscathed and the clarity of production is excellent compared to Losing Streak or other older LTJ albums, anyone hoping for the speedy, catchy, horn-fueled skank-ability of 'Johnny Quest...' or 'All My Best Friends Are Metal Heads' will be sorely disappointed. Admittedly this album may be more worth a buy if you can track down a copy with the bonus live material at the end, for some quality old school LTJ. Not a terrible album, for what it is, but to my mind a bad change in musical direction for one of the most renowned ska bands of the late nineties, some nice guitar/bass work and the vocal melodies hit all the right spots, but songs plod by without a note of brass, and you can't skank to one of 'em.