The Slackers
When I was a teenager, I was convinced that I hated ska music. I just didn't like horns. I blame it on a traumatic experience in elementary school, involving me trying to play the trombone.
At some point, after listening to mixtape after mixtape in friends' cars, I finally started picking out things that I liked. I'm still not a third-wave fan, but I've come around to the Way of the Horn. The only band that I still can't stop listening to is The Slackers.
They're not even ska, really. I mean, they're a modern rocksteady band from NY, heavy on the "rock". Even though their songs make me want to dance and sing along, it's the melancholia of the lyrics that really won my heart. And it has nothing at all to do with the fact that Vic Ruggiero looks smashing in a porkpie hat.
I've missed The Slackers every time they toured, usually because I was traveling on exactly the day they rolled through town, or I was broke. Not this time! In two days, I'll be at Mississippi Studios in Portland, getting to see my favorite ska-band-that-isn't-really-a-ska-band, for the first time.
If you're in town, SEE THEM. If not, buy their stuff. I especially love their album 'Wasted Days', and they've got cheap downloads from Whatevski Records (or Itunes or Amazon). The absolute best part of their website is that you can listen to samples of every single song! Hear a sample of Rude and Reckless right now, (from the 'Redlight' album), but keep in mind that these mp3's don't do the songs justice at all. Get a whole album, already.
[http://theslackers.com]
At some point, after listening to mixtape after mixtape in friends' cars, I finally started picking out things that I liked. I'm still not a third-wave fan, but I've come around to the Way of the Horn. The only band that I still can't stop listening to is The Slackers.
They're not even ska, really. I mean, they're a modern rocksteady band from NY, heavy on the "rock". Even though their songs make me want to dance and sing along, it's the melancholia of the lyrics that really won my heart. And it has nothing at all to do with the fact that Vic Ruggiero looks smashing in a porkpie hat.
I've missed The Slackers every time they toured, usually because I was traveling on exactly the day they rolled through town, or I was broke. Not this time! In two days, I'll be at Mississippi Studios in Portland, getting to see my favorite ska-band-that-isn't-really-a-ska-band, for the first time.
If you're in town, SEE THEM. If not, buy their stuff. I especially love their album 'Wasted Days', and they've got cheap downloads from Whatevski Records (or Itunes or Amazon). The absolute best part of their website is that you can listen to samples of every single song! Hear a sample of Rude and Reckless right now, (from the 'Redlight' album), but keep in mind that these mp3's don't do the songs justice at all. Get a whole album, already.
[http://theslackers.com]
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1 comments:
Oooh have fun!
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