OCTOBER 22, 2004
Entertainment
Less Than Jake, More Than Most
THE SANDSPUR 11
CELEBRITY MATCHING
Less Than Jake produces a compilation album of lesser known singles.
BY
JESS AND LARA
by Katie Pederson asst. sports editor
Straight out of Gainesville, the horn filled, punk rock jammers of Less Than Jake are back at it again, this time with the compilation album, B is for B-sides. B-sides is a twisted look at some of Less Than Jake’s lesser known singles. Many of the B-sides tracks could originally not be found outside of Europe until this release. The album coincides with the recent addition of Less Than Jake to the Project Revolution Tour where the band has become one of a few opening acts for such greats as Korn, Snoop Dogg, and Linkin Park. Less Than Jake does not
photo / KILLERMOVIES.COM
photo / LESSTHANJAKE.COM
FLORIDA STARS: Releasing their B-Sides album filled with punk and rock and crude lyrics.
disappoint the fans with the B-sides, breaking out the same energy-filled punk rock flavor that has made them famous. As always, the band jams out to their favorite antiauthoritarian, controversial topics with hilariously catchy tracks such as “Sobriety Is A Serious Business And Business Isn’t So Good,” “Showbiz? Science? Who C a r e s ? , ” “Robots One, Humans Zero,” and “Portrait of a Cigarette Smoker at 19.” Ditching the ska appeal for a new pop flavor, the album shines with well-aged, multi-track vocals and pulsating beats. And, as always, photo / LESSTHANJAKE.COM what’s a Less JAKE BEGINNINGS:They were inspired Than Jake album by a band in the UK, SNUFF.
without the warped artistic flavor that made them famous? The boys got inventive this time, playing off the whole pre-school pounded animal alphabet as shown by their crazy album cover of a stoned skeletal bee (get it- “B sides”?) and carried throughout the insert. If you’re looking for indepth, heartfelt lyrical imagery, B-sides is definitely not for you. And though for the punk-rock crazed typical college kid B-sides may be a great addition to the rotation, it’s definitely not good music to having jamming in the background if you’re planning on paying any attention to homework or if you have the makings of a headache. If you like your rock straight up and aren’t afraid to admit that ska horns and old proto-punk is still cool, I suggest you turn the speakers way, way up and get your B-sides on.
some adventurous moments, like the appearance of rapper Q-Tip on “The Outsiders.” The song will probably remind diehard fans of the classic “Radio Song” from Out Of Time, which featured KRS-1. The song is a really cool mix of styles and very mellow, like most of the album. This isn’t the really upbeat sing-along stuff of R.E.M.’s IRS Records years. This a mellow atmospheric collection made by one of the tightest and most melodic bands in rock. The highpoints of the album are the brooding “Boy In The Well” and the surreal “High Speed Train.” I found myself listening to this track over and over just for the
transcendent chorus; no one writes a melodic hook like the boys of R.E.M. The first single, “Leaving New York” is a beautiful ballad in the style of “Losing My Religion” and so many other R.E.M. melodic epics. “Electron Blue”, a track that Michael Stipe said was inspired by a dream, is on the odd side and won’t be universally appealing. Howeever, I was hard pressed to find any bad songs among the thirteen here, which is saying a lot considering the real stinkers on up and Reveal. This definitely not the greatest album in the R.E.M. cannon but it is more the worth the price of admissions.
Sex and the City may be over, but its stars continue to shine at every awards shows and movie premiere. See if you can match each celeb with the necklace she showed up wearing. A
1
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2
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B
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3
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C
round The Sun
4
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D
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Answers: 1. D, 2. C, 3. A, 4. B
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.M. kicks out the melodic jams.
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