GNV FLA

Less Than Jake play poppy ska punk with brass flourishes and vaguely politicised, troubled suburban lyrics. It’s all crunchy guitars and sugary but pained harmonies intermingled with ska interludes and uplifting brass riffs. It’s quite cool the way each track leaps straight into the next like a ska-punk concept album. And maybe it is a concept album, because as far as I can tell a lot of these songs are about the American real-estate crisis (“The city’s skyline hasn’t looked the same since the boom in South Florida’s real estate” they sing on ‘The State Of Florida’) which is an interesting example of how business journalism is infiltrating punk rock and probably worth a thesis or two. Anyway, when you filter out singer Chris Demake’s generic punk-pop, fratboy in crisis, Green Day whine it’s not totally terrible.

Key track: ‘The State of Florida’