MKNZ Ilirska Bistrica, Monday, 08.07.2002 at 22h:

The Slackers (New York, USA)

Opening up with guns blazing on a staid music scene, the Slackers continue to push boundaries and defy expectations with their latest CD, Wasted Days. In an era of slick over produced throwaway pop, the Slackers keep it real with horns, organs, a pulsing rhythm section, and soulful voices. By following their muses of the Skatalites, the Beatles, Bob Marley, Lee Perry, Bob Dylan, and Curtis Mayfield, the Slackers have created a niche all their own in contemporary music.

The Slackers are a 7 piece band that hails from New York City. Formed in 1991, the band has been experimenting with mixes of ska, reggae, soul, swing, punk, and jazz for over 10 years. Their first full length recording, Better Late Than Never (1996), featured a raw, direct sound that drew inspiration from Jamaica and brought it into New York in the 1990's. The New York Times was quick to declare that the Slackers are part of "The Sound of New York."

Upon signing with Tim Armstrong's, Hellcat Records, in 1997, the band released Red Light, which saw them evolving to a smoother, more melancholy and soulful sound. The runaway hit from this album was "Watch This" which received extensive college radio airplay and was featured on the Give Em the Boot compilation which sold over 200,000 copies.

In 1998, the Slackers followed up Red Light with a 19 song, all original opus, entitled, The Question. Filled with songs inspired by lost loves, dead heroes, and alcohol, it was proclaimed to be the "new Exile On Main Street", by the leading Dutch weekly, OOR. The single from this record was "Have The Time", which produced a video that was shown extensively on Matt Penfields' Indie Nation (MTV). As a reviewer at CMJ put it, "The only question left to ask…is why all new ska records don't sound so respectful and together?"

Since the release of Red Light, the Slackers have done 7 US Tours and 5 European tours and numerous shorter trips. They have appeared on the stages of the Warped Tour (1998), the Lowlands Festival (1999) Pukkelpop (1999), CMJ (2000), Montreal Jazz Festival (2000), and the Bourges Festival (2001), as well as countless small club and bar gigs from Los Angeles to Amsterdam. The Slackers have inspired a devoted cult following that drives hundreds of miles to attend their gigs. The Slackers focus on their live show led to the release of their official bootleg in 2000, Live At Ernesto's, a present for all their fans.

On their 2001 release, Wasted Days, the Slackers continue to demonstrate growth and a timelessness that defies the shallow trends of today. The opening track, Wasted Days declares "What have I done wrong that I should be sorry?" and this confident tone is continued throughout the disc. The fans responded with enthusiasm to the mp3 single, the pedal steel driven Ska of "Dave's Friend", making over 6,000 downloads in the first 2 months of its release. Another single, a "ganja-choked" reworking of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive", was praised by such varied publications as Maxim and the Village Voice.

In 2001 the band played over 170 shows selling out 23 of them at such venues as Wetlands in New York City, the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and the Melkweg in Amsterdam. This growing popularity most recently caught the attention of National Public Radio, and the Slackers were a featured segment on the "All Things Considered" show this past July. This 13 minute moment of nation-wide radio air play shot the Slackers into #8 on Amazon.com's sales chart for 7/26/01.

Looking forward into the future, the Slackers continue to defy expectations of what ska, reggae and pop music are.