Less Than Jake: Anthem : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Less Than Jake were a little late for ska pop's moment in the sun back in the mid-Nineties, but they'll be damned if this pop-punk wave passes them by. Their sixth album, Anthem, is a precision-produced guided missile seeking the hearts of socially awkward skate punks everywhere. Alarmingly crisp songs such as "The Ghosts of Me and You" and "That's Why They Call It a Union" are full of disaffected sneers, aimed at ex-lovers and hopeless family members alike.

If anything, lead singer Chris DeMakes can be a bit too smart for this line of work; he bemoans "the tragedy of minimum wage" on "The Upwards War and the Down Turned Cycle." But juvenile whines like the numbingly dubby "The Science of Selling Yourself Short" and the corny "Plastic Cup Politics" ensure the aging band never gets too old for its crowd.

JON CARAMANICA
(From RS 924, June12, 2003)