Vinyl File: Less Than Jake highlights

You're the lucky reader of the 29th edition of the Punknews.org Vinyl File. This column aims to keep you informed with upcoming releases as well as spotlighting interesting releases, your favorite bands' own collections and labels with a history of vinyl releases worth talking about. As always, Vinyl File is brought to you by Ben Conoley.

Since their inception in 1992, Less Than Jake has released some of the most interesting and fun records in punk rock. After all, can you name any bands that have released records shaped like birthday cake and moldy cheese or have released records in pizza boxes (I know, I know, Horse!) and pie tins? This is all in addition to flexi discs, a split with Megadeth and much, much more. It would take much too long to cover every vinyl release the band has put out. Instead, Vinyl File is thrilled to present the Less Than Jake highlight reel.

In related Less Than Jake news, Vinnie Fiorello of Gainesville, Florida's Less Than Jake was interviewed this past week for Central Connecticut State Univesitiy'sThe Recorder . He mentioned that the band is planning on hitting the studio in March for a release in June on the band's own record label. He also discusses his business decisions and says that the new album will see the band "going to go back true to form." Expect references to both Pez and Johnny Quest.

You can read the text of the interview here.

Next week, we'll be bringing you an interview with the Less Than Jake lyricist, drummer ad resident collector nerd, Vinnie Fiorello. But for now, click read more to see what all the fuss is about.

THE VINYL FILE SPOTLIGHT

Less Than Jake’s 50th release was celebrated with birthday cake shaped 7". There were 1,000 pressed on pink and white vinyl with 500 pressed on green and white vinyl, which was dubbed the "moldy" version. The record contained the songs ‘This is the Modern World,’ ‘Son of Dick,’ ‘Laverne and Shirley’ and ‘Last Train.’

However, the birthday cake 7" isn’t the only Less Than Jake album to be released on both "moldy" and regular versions. The same can be said for their Cheese 7". Released in 1998 and sold online and on the Ska Against Racism Tour, 1,000 were pressed on yellow triangle-shaped vinyl, complete with Swiss cheese holes. 500 "moldy" versions were also pressed on green vinyl with black streaks. The 7" had ‘Cheese’ on the a-side and a cover of Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re not Gonna Take it’ on the b-side.

People lucky enough to attend Less Than Jake’s 1998 Halloween show at the Metro in Chicago were able to snag one of 2,800 Rock-n-Roll Pizzeria 7" records. Released through Fueled by Ramen, these records were pressed, appropriately enough, on orange/black vinyl. People who grabbed their copy early in the evening were given copies with more black than orange, while the opposite can be said for those who grabbed a copy later on. The title track can be found on the b-side of this record, while the first side contains ‘Son of Dick.’These songs were also featured on No Idea Records’ version of the 7". This time around both songs were found on the first side with the second side featuring an etching done by Armadillo. However that’s not the coolest part, all 1,000 copies came inside a hand screened Less Than Jake pizza box with a magnet, guest check, napkin and menu.

In 1998, Less Than Jake released Hello Rockview on a number of vinyl formats. This included a box set containing 7 7" records. Each record contained two songs from the album and was limited to 5,000 copies. The set was also packaged with a limited edition record adapter with the Less Than Jake logo. While this set was released through Capitol Records, Drive-Thru also released a picture disc version. This version had two pressings, each limited to 500.
Less Than Jake’s 2003 effort, Anthem, also received the 7x7" treatment. However, this time each 7" was a picture disc featuring each song’s artwork from the CD liner notes on it’s respective side. Only 500 were made, making this one of the band’s more sought after full-length releases.

Less Than Jake contributed a cover of The Partridge Family’s ‘I Think I Love You’ to the Scream 2 motion picture soundtrack. Other notable acts to make an appearance include Master P, Kottonmouth Kings, Sugar Ray and Dave Matthews Band (OK, it also included Foo Fighters, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion). If you attended the band’s tours around that time, you may have been lucky enough to catch one 5,000 promotion flexis containing the song that they passed out at shows.The band released another flexi featuring the song ‘Theme for Yo Yo Ninja.’ Limited to only 1,000 copies, 800 were given out for free at SXSW with 200 sold on tour.

Megadeth may be one of the last band’s one associates with Less Thank Jake, but despite their seemingly polar opposite styles and outlooks on life, the two bands got together to record a split 7". This album isn’t especially rare, as it had three pressings totaling over 5,000 copies, bit it is one of their coolest records if only for novelty sake. Plus, it comes on a number of apocalyptic color ways.

One of the biggest coups for any Less Than Jake collector is the bands Pie Tin release. This release featured 7 7"s bundled together in, of course, a pie tin. The set contained, in addition to the records (Smoke Spot, Unglued, Pez Kings, Pung/LTJ split, Rock-n-Roll Pizzeria, Crash Course in Being an Asshole and Kemuria/LTJ split) a sticker, gum, smokers club card and crash course tattoos. Only 175 of Pie Tins were assembled.
If you have anything you'd like to see featured on Vinyl File, email ben (at) punknews (dot) org.