Less Than Jake released See the Light on November 12, 2013, through Fat Wreck Chords. Their first studio full-length since 2008’s GNV FLA put the recording process in familiar hands: bassist and vocalist Roger Lima led production at his Moathouse studio in Gainesville, Florida. The band had 13 new songs and room to work through them on their own terms.
“My Money Is on the Long Shot” introduced the album ahead of its release. Guitarist and vocalist Chris DeMakes told The Inertia that Fat Mike had selected it because he thought its familiar Less Than Jake feel would connect with the band’s established audience. For the song’s official music video, the band invited friends to contribute footage and assembled their submissions into the finished clip.
The relationship with Fat Wreck had already resumed with Greetings & Salutations, which collected two EPs and additional songs. When Less Than Jake began planning a full-length, the label wanted to be involved. Lima later told ThePunkSite.com that Fat Wreck didn’t hear the album until it was finished. Songwriting depended on input from the whole group. Members brought individual ideas into their warehouse and tried different arrangements, including whether a song should lean toward ska or punk. DeMakes described riffs and melodies giving drummer Vinnie Fiorello material to build lyrics around, with horn arrangements developing as the songs took shape. Most of the writing was settled before recording began.
Lima had also changed the space where they would record. In the same Punk Site interview, he explained that he had reconfigured the studio to use rooms throughout the house. Four weeks allowed more time to work on guitar sounds, while the preparation meant they could begin tracking without having to finish writing entire songs. “It was just a little bit more care,” he said. Jason Livermore subsequently mixed the record at the Blasting Room.
For Fiorello, working locally meant he could leave the studio and spend time with his family. He was a new father, and that change was also affecting what he wanted the lyrics to say. In a November 2013 interview with Jaded In Chicago, he explained that he wanted to offer something more positive for his daughter and other listeners. Economic, political and personal difficulties remained part of the subject matter, but he wanted the songs to acknowledge those problems while giving people encouragement. He described the record’s faith as belief in the future and in finding an individual way forward. He wanted that shared outlook to connect the music, lyrics and artwork, so listeners could follow the idea across the whole record.
“Do the Math” became a seven-inch single on June 10, 2014. In comments shared by Fat Wreck Chords, Fiorello connected the song to recognizing the people who had stayed beside you through difficult stretches. The B-side, “Connect the Dots,” opened up another part of the same recording period: it was a previously unreleased song from the See the Light sessions.
