Formation and Pezcore (1992–1995) Before the formation of Less Than Jake,
vocalist and
guitarist Chris DeMakes,
drummer Vinnie Fiorello, and
bassist Shaun Grief led a local band named Good Grief while attending high school in
Port Charlotte, Florida. Good Grief broke up when DeMakes moved north to attend the
University of Florida. On July 13, 1992, Less Than Jake was born. While Grief moved to New York City (he would later return as the band's roadie), DeMakes and Fiorello began writing songs on the weekends before Fiorello would join DeMakes at the
University of Florida. When united, the pair decided they needed a bass player, but first they wanted a name. Fiorello said: Band members have told various media outlets different versions of the origin of the band's name. DeMakes has stated in interviews that the band's name came from Fiorello's family's pet parrot. His story claimed that the parrot would squawk during the band's practice sessions, leading to Fiorello's mother telling the band that they needed to stop playing because they were disturbing the bird. This would lead to the band referring to themselves as being "less than Jake". In June 2020, however, Fiorello clarified that Jake was not a parrot but was, in fact, an English Bulldog. After practicing with a different bass player for a couple of weeks, the band met Roger Lima, a guitarist who also attended the University of Florida. After Lima practiced with the band on guitar for a few hours, the band fired the current bass player and recruited him instead. Citing influence from
Snuff, the band decided it wanted to add a horn section. In 1993, the group added its first
horn player, Jessica Mills, and released its first 7-inch record,
Smoke Spot, with the band members hand pressing all 300 records themselves. Soon after,
trombone player Buddy Schaub joined the band. Over the first few years, the band put out its first EP,
Better Class Of Losers, made compilation appearances, and released several vinyl records (featuring songs that would later appear on the 1995 ''Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand'' compilation), before
Mike Park agreed to release the band's debut album on Dill Records. Right before the band's first U.S. tour in June 1995 with
Skankin' Pickle, Schaub had already made plans to travel to
Europe with his friends. The band found a temporary replacement in
saxophonist Derron Nuhfer, who filled in for Schaub during his absence. Derron became a permanent member in August 1995. Less Than Jake's first full-length LP
Pezcore debuted in August 1995, featuring such staples as "Liquor Store" and "My Very Own Flag". Originally on Dill Records, the CD contained 21 tracks, including two covers of the TV theme songs for
Jeffersons and
Laverne and Shirley (which were omitted on the subsequent reissues on
Asian Man and
Fueled By Ramen records). The title of the album stems from Roger and Vinnie's unexplained fondness for
Pez candy, clearly apparent in their reportedly sizable Pez dispenser collections, and the pervasively used suffix "core". Ever since, Pez dispenser motifs have been a common feature of Less Than Jake's merchandise.
Losing Streak and Hello Rockview (1996–1999) Shortly following the release of
Pezcore, the band was signed to
Capitol Records. The group debuted on the label in 1996 with
Losing Streak, containing ska-punk songs. Following the 1997 Warped Tour, saxophonist Jessica Mills left the band to perform with
Citizen Fish. Mills was replaced by ex-
Slapstick trombonist Pete Anna in January 1998 (trombonist Lars Nylander served as a fill-in during the fall of 1997). Around this time,
Vinnie Fiorello also started his own record label,
Fueled by Ramen, with friend John Janick. During 1997 the band embarked on the Caffeine Nation Tour with the
Descendents,
Guttermouth, and Handsome; the Race Around Uranus Tour with
Blink-182 and
Frenzal Rhomb; and the
Warped Tour. In 1998, after participating in the Ska Against Racism Tour with such ska acts as
the Toasters and
Mustard Plug, and the Warped Tour, the band released
Hello Rockview. The band spawned a minor college radio hit with "History of a Boring Town", which reached No. 39 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, despite not being released as a video single.
Borders and Boundaries (2000–2002) After recording what would be
Borders & Boundaries, the band opted to buy out its contract from the major label and release the album on
Fat Wreck Chords instead. In October 2000, the band released
Borders & Boundaries, and landed the opening spot on
Bon Jovi's North American
tour. While it was not as commercially successful as previous releases initially, the album contained singles "Look What Happened" (which received minor airplay on college stations) and the group's home-town anthem, "Gainesville Rock City" (which received some airtime on
MTV2). Shortly after the album's recording, Derron Nuhfer left the band (going on to join Gunmoll and later Escape Grace), and Less Than Jake found a replacement in former
Spring Heeled Jack saxophonist, Pete Wasilewski. To avoid the confusion of having two Petes within the band, Pete Wasilewski was nicknamed JR (as in "Peter Junior"). In 2001 the band took part in the Vans
Warped Tour, after which the first Pete departed. Upon talking about the group's new album, Vinnie mentioned his desire to "combine
third wave ska and
pop punk in each song," The first single from
GNV FLA was "Does The Lion City Still Roar?",
GNV FLA was officially released June 24, 2008. Touring in support of the album included the
Reading and Leeds Festivals and a tour of UK during the fall containing thirteen dates with the band
Zebrahead. "Conviction Notice" was the second and final single off the album. The group also stated at other various concerts during its recent Europe tour that the band was recording video footage for a new DVD. In June 2009, Internet radio station
PunkRadioCast teamed up with
Jones Soda to create a punk pop 6 pack featuring labels designed by
PunkRadioCast and five punk artists, one of which was "Less Than Jake – Root Beer".
EP releases and See the Light (2010–2017) On July 7, 2010, the band announced that it had started recording again. On October 12, 2010, the group released
TV/EP, consisting of sixteen covers of television theme songs in the span of thirteen minutes: "Spanning from the vintage adverts of yesteryear to the frenetic promos of modern day,
TV/EP reimagines a world where pop punk and ska is the music de rigueur, and this is the soundtrack to your couch potato life. Tracklisted as anonymously numbered channels, the experience they have planned is akin to the feeling of flipping random television channels." The first revealed track off the disc is a rendition of the
Animaniacs theme song. The band also performed in Tavares, Florida along with the Supervillains and local acts to support funding for the surrounding counties' high school band programs. On June 20, 2011, the band released an EP entitled
Greetings from Less Than Jake, which was made available on the group's online store and was sold on
Warped Tour 2011 as well. On February 16, 2012, Less Than Jake released a follow-up EP entitled
Seasons Greetings from Less Than Jake. The band announced both EPs would be re-released, with 2 previously unreleased songs, as part of a new album called
Greetings and Salutations from Less Than Jake, released in October 2012 through Fat Wreck Chords, who had released
Borders and Boundaries. On April 17, 2013, Less Than Jake announced through its Facebook page that the band had signed back to Fat Wreck Chords and would release its first album full of new material since 2008 sometime in the fall. On August 9, the album's title, track listing and release date were announced, and
See the Light was subsequently released on November 12, 2013. On July 29, 2016, at
Vans Warped Tour 2016, Peter "JR" Wasilewski told
Fuse, "We're working on a new record right now, nothing to really speak of, but it will be coming out in 2017 for sure." Less Than Jake launched a tour with
Pepper in the January and February 2017 to promote their latest release, the
Sound the Alarm EP. Released on February 3, 2017, by
Pure Noise Records, it debuted at 114 on the
Billboard 200.
Vinnie Fiorello's departure, Silver Linings and Uncharted (2018–present) On October 24, 2018, Fiorello stated that, while he would remain a member of Less Than Jake, he would no longer be touring with the band. On October 26, following Fiorello's announcement, the band announced that former Teen Idols drummer Matt Yonker would be the touring drummer moving onwards. On September 1, 2019, Lima stated that Fiorello was no longer with the band in any capacity, and Yonker subsequently joined the band on a full-time basis, having worked with the band previously in a number of behind-the-scenes capacities. Roger Lima noted: "It was a fairly smooth transition having long time friend and LTJ workhorse Matt Yonker jump on the drum kit late in 2018. He had done merch, guitar tech, stage, and more recently, live sound and tour managing and management for us! So we had some restructuring to do." In October 2020, Lima reflected on Fiorello's departure: "He was the primary lyricist for the band, and it took a bit of refocusing of creative juices as the rest of us took on that role as part of the songwriting, absolutely. Vinnie was becoming tired of life on the road and wanted to spend more time with his daughter. No bad feelings, I am just happy we got to where we got and I'm ready to pick up the torch and continue forward on this crazy path." In an email to fan club members, the title of their next album was announced to be
Silver Linings. An official release was delayed due to
COVID-19; the album was ultimately released on December 11, 2020. In 2022, Less Than Jake and
Bowling for Soup performed over forty shows as part of their Back for the Attack Tour, which also featured
The Aquabats on some dates. On November 15, 2024, the band released a seven-song EP,
Uncharted, which was produced by
Bill Stevenson of the
Descendents. ==Side projects==