Ska is not dead. It’s just in a vegetative state, can’t breathe without a ventilator, and hasn’t had solid food in years. Less Than Jake is doing its part to keep the pulse beating, albeit faintly. The Florida-bred ska-punk band has gradually become more punk than ska as the pop-punk wave crested at its mainstream peak. But while the skunk bands of the ’90s continue to drown one by one, LTJ manages to stay afloat with a rising generation of youngsters. Anthem, the band’s most recent full-length, has won new fans and detractors alike, but what with LTJ’s ability to survive, perhaps the band can find an unofficial anthem of its own in a little song from the Gibb boys — something called “Staying Alive.”
This article appears in Apr 20-26, 2005.