is the fifth studio album by American ska punk band Less Than Jake, released on May 20, 2003 on Sire Records, a Warner Bros. imprint.

Sessions were held at Piety Street Recording in New Orleans and Morning View Studio in Malibu, California, occurring between October and December 2002.

Anthem received generally favorable reviews from critics, some of whom noted the shift away from horns into pop-punk, while others commented on Cavallo's production.

[2] By August 2001, Less Than Jake were expecting to release a new album in early 2002, which saxophonist Peter "JR" Wasilewski anticipated to be faster and punk rock-orientated.

[4] This space was dubbed Fort Hooker; after they had written some songs here, they would move to bassist Roger Lima's home studio, known as The Moat House, where hey would record demos and write more material.

[5] In February and March 2002, the band headlined a few shows in Florida, before touring with Bad Religion and Hot Water Music.

[9][10] In August, the band toured with Sugarcult; trombonist Buddy Schaub suffered a wrist injury, and was temporarily replaced by Vinny Nobile of the Pilfers.

[15] The members had proposed New Orleans while at one of their practices, but had disregarded this situation due to the "dangers of alcohol being served virtually 24 hours a day".

[10] Sessions then moved in early November 2002 to Morning View Studio, which was located in a large house, in Malibu, California.

[14][23][24] Musically, the sound of Anthem has been described as pop-punk, pop rock and ska punk, drawing comparison to the work of Good Charlotte.

"[29] Anthem opens with the punk rock song "Welcome to the New South", and is followed by the emo pop-influenced "The Ghosts of Me and You", which evokes Blink-182 and the Get Up Kids.

"[31] "Look What Happened" was originally recorded for Borders & Boundaries; the band toned down the ska elements and leaned towards punk rock.

[20] "Short Fuse Burning" uses a guitar part reminiscent of the one heard in "Thunderstruck" (1990) by AC/DC, backed by a melodic hardcore rhythm section.

[20] "Best Wishes to Your Black Lung" revisited the third-wave ska sound of the band's earlier releases; its title referred to former member Peter Anna, who smoked and left to work as a firefighter.

[25][20] "She's Gonna Break Soon" details Fiorello's friend, who was content with her high school life, until she became an outsider when moving to college.

[47] An animated music video for "The Science of Selling Yourself Short", done by Chip Wass, who also made the album's artwork, was posted online on August 4.

[21] An alternative version of "The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out" featuring Billy Bragg was included on the Rock Against Bush (2004) compilation.

[63][64] In April and May 2004, the band went on a short of North America with the Early November, Fall Out Boy and the Academy Is..., which included an appearance at the Skate and Surf Festival.

[70] AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus wrote that Anthem was a "hooky, heady collection of heartfelt postcards from the future that LTJ's youthful fan base has to look forward to".

He noted that the "crunchy major chords and soaring choruses have a tendency to crowd out the band's ska influences and relegate its horn section to support status".

[25] CMJ New Music Report writer Brad Maybe said the band "pulled back a little on the horns, and it may not be as loud and boisterous as it once was on record, but LTJ still has a pumping brass section".

[71] Punknews.org staff writer Adam White theorised that the "lack of 'in your face' horns seems to have less to do with label politics than it does with careful songwriting.

[30] In a review for Playlouder, journalist John Robb wrote that the album "leans closer towards a chuggy pop punk attack, it's like a thicker, dirtier Good Charlotte and comes complete with indentikit stomp-along choruses, fired by a high energy rush".

[28] Blender writer Matt Diehl said Cavallo was the "real star here", but the band's "stylistic attention-deficit disorder dilutes the focus and also dates it".

[25] Rolling Stone writer Jon Caramanica called the album a "precision-produced guided missile seeking the hearts of socially awkward skate punks everywhere".