Less Than Jake, less than important

If you're looking for a self-help guide to surviving the transition from teenager to adult, you've come to the right place. That topic is Less Than Jake's field of expertise and it has spent the last four albums deconstructing every possible emotion involved with growing up. Musically, the majority of the tracks are derivatives of past songs. The band continues to crank out tunes at hyperactive speed with choruses as literally anthemic as ever. "Welcome to the New South" and "Best Wishes to Your Black Lung" are the same songs Less Than Jake's been perfecting for years, yet they still retain enough distinctiveness to hold their own against its best. The band is a tight, cohesive unit, despite the fact that the horn section seems to be losing members faster than a Girl Scout troop headed by R. Kelly. Surprisingly, LTJ venture out into some uncharted waters. "Escape from the A-Bomb House" is dark and unmelodic, the polar opposite of its entire back catalog. Struggling to grow up? Put down Teen Beat and pick this up. As for the rest of us, well we will just have to search for our enlightenment elsewhere.