Ska legends Goldfinger and Less Than Jake punctuate their decades-long friendship with a superb cover of the Post Malone song “I Had Some Help.” It’s the first time the two scene legends have joined each other on a track.
“My kids were listening to ‘I Had Some Help.’ My son is such a Post Malone fan. We thought this is such a good song … man, I just hit up Chris (Demakes),” Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann says, speaking about the Less Than Jake vocalist and guitarist.
So the bands put together the cover, which pays true to the original. The horns and ska sounds perfectly replace the bells and whistles of a Post Malone track.
“I love the bridge,” Feldmann says of the song. “We put banjo in it. We kind of imitated the guitar line with the horns. Chris takes it from verse two and owns it … it is just really special.”
The bands’ relationship dates back decades. Goldfinger followed Less Than Jake at the Buzz Bake Sale 1997, a festival headlined by Green Day.
“They put on such an epic show,” Feldmann says. “It was like music to blow of steam. You work your day job, and you just go out and dance.”
Both bands found radio play in the late ’90s, during the “big ska punk explosion” as Feldmann puts it.
“It was really on the radio. The explosion happened everywhere, with Sublime, Real Big Fish … Less Than Jake.”
Goldfinger and Less than Jake spent the next few decades crossing paths, sometimes sharing the same tour.
It’s understandable to think the primes of both bands are behind them. But ticket sales are still strong, with thousands showing up to watch pair that perform with the energy of the ska-on-the-radio days.
Case and point, Goldfinger may have put on the standout show of the When We Were Young Festival, accompanied by Tony Hawk on stage in front of tens of thousands of fans.
“Both of our bands are just crushing it on the road,” Feldmann adds. “A fun live show still translates.”
But these days, the conversations are different. The years of partying are in the past. Now, they’re chasing their kids around tour buses and planning family dinners.
“Most guys have kids and wives now. And it’s, like, a settled down, middle age conversation.”
But neither band are settling down. Keep a close eye on Goldfinger and Less Than Jake for future announcements.
