The Slackers

The Slackers are back in NYC again, this time on the West Side near the Highline to release their new record "The Great Rocksteady Swindle."

They dropped "Strychnine," a new cover tune and only available on this recording, then went back into the stacks for "Sauron" and "Sooner Or Later".

THE SLACKERS
LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY JUNE 4TH, 2010

GUEST MUSICIANS:
LARRY MCDONALD - PERCUSSION
ROLF LANGSJOEN - TRUMPET
BEN LEWIS - TRUMPET

RECORDED BY THE NYC TAPER / NYCTAPER.COM

PRODUCED, MIXED & MASTERED BY ALAN REDPATH.

"The Slackers are part of an imaginary universe. It wasn't their fault, well not completely. The caterpillar told them not to eat the mushroom on the right. But they did and for 15 yrs now they've had to play Imaginary-Jamaican-Rock-and-Roll, and try to explain that to everyone who passes. One asks,"Are you a reggae band?...where are your dreadlocks then?" Another says,"YOU DONT SOUND LIKE PUNK-ROCK WITH HORNS AT ALL!!" One elderly gent says,"Why it sounds like a lot of music I used to like, but I don't think any of you boys look addicted to HEROIN!" Doomed to try and explain themselves to a world full of hungry club-promoters, style-police, genre-slaves and the generally confused, they wrote bio upon bio, hoping to snag someone...ANYONE!...who might understand...here is attempt #6,364..."

- Vic Ruggiero, The Slackers

The Slackers sound is Jamaican rock n roll. While they have been influenced, and even personally taught by Jamaican ska/reggae originators, like the Skatalites and the Upsetters (Original backing band for the Wailers), the band sees its music through an American lens. This band is equally appreciative of old blues, 60s soul, rock, and Rnb as it is of reggae, rocksteady, dub, and Ska. It is as if the Rolling Stones or the Yardbirds had grown up on Bob Marley as well as Muddy Waters. From their 1996 release, Better Late Than Never through to 2008 with Self Medication, the NYC-based band, the Slackers have established themselves as America's premiere interpreters and innovators of Jamaican music and a pretty good rock band to boot.

http://theslackers.com