''Silver Linings'' is the ninth studio album by American
ska punk
Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hard ...
band
Less Than Jake, released on December 11, 2020.
It is their first studio album in little more than seven years (their longest non-album gap), their first full-length release on
Pure Noise Records
Pure Noise Records is an American punk rock record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded by Jake Round in 2009 while he was an editor at '' AMP''; the previous fall, friends of his in the band No Bragging Rights told him they were ...
and their first with new drummer Matt Yonker, who joined the band following founding member
Vinnie Fiorello
Vincent "Vinnie" Fiorello (born June 24, 1974) is an American rock musician and businessman. He co-founded the ska punk band Less Than Jake in 1992, and was the band's drummer and lyricist until 2018. He also founded the record labels Fuele ...
's departure in October 2018.
Recorded in November and December 2019 and mixed in February 2020,
the record was delayed due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music industry
Impact may refer to:
* Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period
* Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US
Science and technology
* Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event
* Impact ...
.
The title and cover art were announced on October 1, 2020, along with the release of the first single "Lie to Me".
Writing and production
The band members began to share demos between January and February 2019 and to discuss ideas mid-tour. By June and July, vocalists Chris DeMakes (also guitarist),
Roger Lima
Rogério Lima Manganelli (born October 31, 1973), commonly known as Roger Lima, is an American musician, best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the ska-punk
Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska mus ...
(also bassist) and new drummer Matt Yonker began rehearsals. After they finished touring in October, they started to record the songs.
Following Fiorello's departure, lyrics were handled by DeMakes and Lima;
the songs deal with more mature topics of the adult life.
About the album's sound, DeMakes said: "If you love Less Than Jake, you're going to love the record. If you didn't like us before, it's not going to change your mind".
The album was recorded at Lima's The Moat House in Gainesville, Florida and was mixed and mastered by Jason Livermore at Blasting Room.
Originally slated for an April release, ''Silver Linings'' suffered successive delays until the band pressured the label for a December release.
The track "Bill" is a tribute to drummer
Bill Stevenson of
Descendents
The Descendents are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a ...
and
Black Flag fame.
Critical reception
''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
''s Jake Richardson gave the album a 3/5 score and said "it's nothing big or clever", but that it "is still a welcome dose of positivity, and the kind of silver lining to our troubled times which offers hope that the good times will eventually return".
Writing for ''Distorted Sound Mag'', Jack Fermor-Worrell said that "whilst in many cases you'd think the relative repetitiveness could end up fatigue-inducing, the relative brevity of the album
..ensures that things never reach anything approaching boring.
..Put simply, Silver Linings is on the whole yet another highly enjoyable LESS THAN JAKE record.
..While those totally new to the band are perhaps still best off reaching for one of the classics, if you've ever liked anything LESS THAN JAKE have done before now, odds are you'll find Silver Linings an enjoyable time."
Track listing
Personnel
Per sources.
*Chris DeMakes - vocals, guitar
*
Roger Manganelli - vocals, bass guitar
*
Peter "JR" Wasilewski - tenor saxophone
*Buddy Schaub - trombone
*Matt Yonker- drums
* Peter Wonsowski - cover art
* Jason Livermore - mixing and mastering at Blasting Room
References
{{Authority control
2020 albums
Less Than Jake albums
Pure Noise Records albums