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Less Than Jake - GVN FLA LP at Interpunk


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I'm am extremely confident that this will be a great album. They're off warner and onto their own label so they have NO one to answer to for their music. The fans were all disappointed with the last album and the band knows it, so this time they'll be coming in with horns at full force. It's produced by Matt Allison, who you may know from records like:

Broken Star - The Broadways (1997)

Goddamnit - Alkaline Trio (1998)

Maybe I'll Catch Fire - Alkaline Trio (2000)

Broken Van - The Broadways (2000)

Split EP - Shady View Terrace/ The Lawrence Arms (2000)

Present Day Memories - The Chinkees/ The Lawrence Arms (2001)

From Here to Infirmary - Alkaline Trio (2001)

Apathy and Exhaustion - The Lawrence Arms (2002)

The Greatest Story Ever Told - The Lawrence Arms (2003)

BYO Split Series, Vol. 5 - Alkaline Trio (2004)

Unicornography - The Falcon (2006)

Oh! Calcutta! - The Lawrence Arms (2006)

Mutiny Pop - The Copyrights (2006)

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I was going to list the records Howard Benson produced, but turns out other than Hello Rockview the list is actually unbelieveably terrible.

Examples:

Crazy Town - Darkhorse (2002)

Adema - Unstable (2003)

P.O.D. - The Fundamental Elements of Southtown (1999);Satellite (2001); Payable on Death (2003)

there are a few other good ones though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

a couple updates regarding the LP,

from Vinnie's blog

So I had been spinning the new record a bunch since I just got the test presses for the vinyl, without going into a complete off shoot, the vinyl sound is amazing. But I’ve been listening to GNV/FLA, spinning 180 mil vinyl and the record sound good. The bonus 7 inch of demos sounds good too as does the acoustic 7 inch. Don’t know about those you are saying to yourself…you will soon.

from the Vintage Vinyl "In Store Add"

Special Vintage Vinyl exclusive - Vintage Vinyl will have an exclusive 7" single that will only be available for those people who pre-order GNV FLA at Vintage Vinyl. How exclusive? These 7" singles are being manufactured for and made available only at the few stores that are hosting instores with Less Than Jake. Each store will have a maximum of 150 7"s and each store will have its own unique colored vinyl version of the 7".

and the first review of the album

http://www.punktastic.com/reviews/2879

Welcome home, Less Than Jake.

After flirting with the mainstream over the last couple of albums and picking up derisory comments for the lack of horns/too much emphasis on the pop, ‘GNV FLA’ is a real return to the sound that blew them up big in the first place. I couldn’t say this record, the band’s ninth full length studio album, is as qood as ‘Hello Rockview’ and I wouldn’t even say it’s quite the same as ‘Pezcore’ or ‘Losing Streak’, but it is more ‘Borders and Boundaries’ than ‘Anthem’. And I know that will please a lot of people.

Not that you’d guess from the start of ‘GNV FLA’ (so named after their hometown of Gainesville, Florida). LTJ are at their best when they have horns parping and guitars flexing their rifftacular muscles, yet ‘City Of Gainesville’ is possibly the slowest track on the album. It’s not bad per se, it’s just…unexpected. For a band who promised a more ‘traditional’ new album, this wasn’t the way I expected it to go. So I was delighted when the album picked up from ‘The State Of Florida’ and carried on through to last track (although the UK release has 15 songs) ‘Devil In My DNA’. The rumours that this record would be a back-to-basics return to form are true. There’s horns a plenty and the style and structure of the songs sound more like ‘Borders…’ influence than any other album. The production is less polished too, which I am sure will delight the hardcore fans who disliked ‘In With The Out Crowd’.

So after listening to this record for pretty much two days solid I’m glad to report back there are many classic LTJ tunes in the making here. Don’t expect ‘Pezcore’ sillyness, but at the same time it’s Back to the Future time with tracks like ‘Malachi Richter’s Liquor’s Quicker’ and ‘Conviction Notice’ buzzing from the speakers. There are many highlights, it has to be said and it’s difficult to guess which tracks will be the singles. There are some strong songs, although none stand out in the same way as ‘All My Best Friends…’ or ‘She’s Gonna Break Soon’ in terms of obvious hits. There are still singles in the making here though, just in a different way. I’d be lying if I said every song is a winner, but when the brass section is going at it full pelt and Roger and Chris are trading vocal blows, it’s like a trip back to 2000.

2008 - the summer of ska? Don’t bet against it…

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Eh, the album's pretty weak. Yeah, it sounds more "vintage" than the last one but the hooks and choruses just aren't there. I've listened to it 3-4 times at work and have no desire to listen to it anymore.

It sucks, too, because I REALLY wanted this record to be one of my favorites of the year. I truly thought LTJ would make a definitive comeback record. This one's not it, though.

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