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amidew York ska pioneers bring good vibrations to College Station
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JY AMY DAUGHERTY
The Battalion
hat started as a group of
guys rehearsing in a rat-
infested basement on
m , e Lower East Side of New York
^ ' Ur ty in the early ’90s has trans-
| Oencoii^| me d into an eight-piece ska
Rivestiiu inc i that carries with it some of
lb 1:1 e last true Jamaican ska beats
om the’60s.
people out: xhr Brooklyn boys now
iiH'iiaboutw: !■]-, a s The Slackers began as
R.inerearer.five piece band, playing a mon-
ngtoproni : ge of pop, punk and ska.
wings as ei
on."
h Week inci
im at A&.M
?w leader
tam, said
were a revival of sorts of
igland’s two-tone movement of
elate ’70s and early ’80s, which
eluded bands like The Specials
id English Beat.
Victor Ruggiero, lead vocalist
id keyboardist for The Slackers,
materials cob tid lin an interview with Ska-
akaze magazine that ska leg-
< up an)#;ids such as The Specials have
lie white par: very influential,
ix. Weboxr-1 “All I ever really wanted to
o do cheap r. mnd like was The Specials,”
)rplastic,taiggiero said. “In a way, that’s
mtothat." ill ill I ever want to sound like.”
students are The five original members —
i campus. Hiero, Marq Lyn on vocals,
thestudenth J. Scanlon on guitar, Luis Zulu-
yclecans.pa; 5a on percussion and drums and
inly can you larlus Geard on bass, are still
g theem# temhers of The Slackers’ ensem-
too much da l-
nakethisplafiThey have been joined by
avid Hillyard on saxophone,
lerl Pine on trombone and ve
ils, and Jeremy Mushlin on
jgimpet and vocals,
if After the addition of Hillyard,
former member of Hepcat, and
nushlin, formerly of the Allsto-
ians, the band’s sound moved in
le direction of more traditional
ta fend reggae.
In 1996 The Slackers’ first al
um, Better Late Than Never,
r as!released on Moon Records.
The typical ska music of the
me was portrayed throughout
lis album, with such tracks as
ie reggae/punk song “Run
way” and the ska swing song
Sarah.”
1 It was not until 1997, howev
er, that The Slackers found their
true sound with their Hellcat
Records release Redlight.
Between their title track,
“Cooking for Tommy,” a tribute
to legendary Skatalite Tommy
McCook, and the album’s reggae
tune “Watch This,” Redlight
quickly became a success.
The Slackers’ fame has
reached beyond the United States
to places as far away as Amster
dam.
Geard said in a press release
that The Slackers’ music is more
appealing to mature audiences.
“I think the VH-1 audience is a
perfect traditional ska audience,”
Geard said. “I think they dig the
groove and the vibe more; they’re
more sophisticated and don’t get
put off by Latin and jazz influ
ences.”
Geard said he thinks it is hard
for people to find The Slackers’
music anything less than appeal
ing.
“The beat’s infectious, and
then the other influences make it
more interesting,’’Geard said.
Their latest record. The Ques
tion, was released in 1998 by
Hellcat Records. It consists of
more than an hour of original mu
sic and covers such topics as al
coholism, innocence and lost
loves. The Question utilizes ska’s
blends of several different types
of music including pop, soul,
jazz, R&B and reggae.
Jeff Abarta, who works for The
Slackers’ artist development
team, said the good vibrations are
what he likes best about the
band. •
“For me, the main thing I love
is the vibes,” Abarta said.
“They’re amazing musicians and
I’m not taking away from that,
but it’s the vibes I like best.”
Abarta said he thinks The
Slackers play uplifting music.
“There’s something about
their music that makes me feel
good,” Abarta said. “I don’t like
trendy ska, like the Mighty
Mighty Bosstones. I like the more
traditional stuff.”
The Slackers’ ability to incor
porate several types of music into
their sound has helped garner
their large following.
“Their genuine fondness for
rock steady, reggae, jazz and ska
is what I like,” Abarta said.
“They have a true appreciation
for those that came before them.”
The Slackers will perform Fri
day at the Crooked Path Ale
House.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SLACKERS
The Slackers will perform Friday night at the Crooked Path Ale House.
The Slackers
The Question
CD Courtesy of Hellcat
Records
If finding music to bounce to
is on the agenda, then The Slack
ers’ latest release The Question,
will hit the spot.
If the Jamaican beat ska and
the more traditional ska beats
do not get listeners moving,
then the lyrics of Slackers’ vo
calists Victor Ruggiero and
Marq Lyn will.
The Question consists of
more than an hour of original
music performed by the 8-piece
band with bubbling vocals,
horns and guitars, and swinging
rhythms.
The album sounds reggae-ish
at times, and at other times it
just shouts traditional ska. The
record has few cheerful lyrics,
but the majority of the album
still manages to sound upbeat.
Most of the songs consist of
lyrics about betrayal, lost loves
and sadness, all cleverly dis
guised in each song’s jumping
beats of each song. An especially
good track, “No Love,” has lines
like, “I can never sleep, I can
only weep/ You know, it’s no
good to be in love.”
From the way many of this al
bum’s tracks sound, it is obvious
that these guys must have been
burned pretty badly by love.
The Question gives an invit
ing combination of jazz, reggae,
pop, soul and R&B that ultimate
ly translates into some really
great ska — mad props to The
Slackers. (Grade; A)
— Amy Daugherty
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7:00 p.m.
Room 230
Memorial Student Center
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