Cover Tracks and Early Ideas (Losers, Kings And Things We Don't Understand - Less Than Jake)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Losers, Kings And Things We Don't Understand - Less Than Jake
Date:	03/04/08 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some of the music here is brilliant, it's interesting to hear the bands early work.

Disadvantages: Poorly produced, some of the tracks are not very exciting at all.

Less Than Jake's 1995 album 'Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand' is a compilation of early material recorded by the band comprising of a grand total of 21 tracks. Their first studio album 'Pezcore' was released in 1995 also, but three years worth of material is included here from the early independent releases of the band.

In the early days of Less Than Jake many 7" vinyl records were put out and this is therefore fundamentally what this release is made up of; tracks featured on these early 7" records. The quality is not excellent, but nonetheless ownership of this album is essential for hardened fans of the band. With 21 tracks on display here the 'Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand' compilation offers fantastic value for money I feel. Not all of the music is great, but there's definitely a good few tracks well worth listening to here. For those not familiar with the music of Less Than Jake I'd recommend listening to the albums of 'Losing Streak', 'Hello Rockview' and 'Borders and Boundaries' first and foremost, don't start by listening to this album but definitely look to invest in 'Losers, Kings, and Things We Don't Understand' if you like what you hear.

Notable tracks that must be mentioned here are those of 'Shotgun', 'Down in the Mission', 'Whipping Boy' and the Tommy Tutone cover '867-5309 (Jenny)' also. All of these tracks are brilliant, an opening anthem 'Soundman/Soundcheck' is in fact excellent also. Fans of the band may recognise the track 'Down in the Mission' from it's inclusion as a bonus live track on the album 'Borders and Boundaries', it's absolutely fantastic and I personally am a huge fan of it. 'Shotgun' has an epic power about it, the chorus is spat out and the band fire their way through this one with great energy and enthusiasm. The great thing about 'Soundman/Soundcheck' as an opening track is that it captures your interest right from the word go with a great energy and a driving guitar riff throughout the entirety of the track. It's excellent from start to finish, no less than you'd expect really from a Less Than Jake album opener.

I don't often like cover tracks, more often than not they can be extremely disappointing but this is certainly not the case with '867-5309 (Jenny)'. The first time I ever listening to this album it was this track that stood out to me most and still I have a great love of it. In my opinion it's one of those rare examples of a cover track that far exceeds the quality of the original and does in fact impress on every level. Less Than Jake really put their own spin on this one as band and pull off the cover track terrifically well, there is so much energy and life injected here that every time I hear the track I can't help but smile.

As well as covering Tommy Tutone's '867-5309 (Jenny)', Less Than Jake also cover the Dukes of Hazzard theme here but not to quite such impressive effect. It's an amusing inclusion on the album but ultimately isn't very good, I'm sure it went down well as a live track during the early days of the band though so its inclusion here is understandable.

Less Than Jake have recorded many excellent albums over the years, and if you want to see where it all started for the band then this is a good release to get your hands on. The production values aren't great, the tracks aren't always excellent, but what you do get here is truly exceptional value for money. Currently available on Amazon at a price of £7.99, that works out at a mere 38 pence per track and I personally think that's exceptional value for money myself. If Less Than Jake are a band that you thoroughly enjoy the music of then give this album a try, it's by no means their best ever work but to hear what the bands music was like in their early years is always interesting to know I feel.

Summary: Although interesting to hear Less Than Jake's early ideas, ownership of this album is non-essential.