The Slackers are an American

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band, formed in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of

, rocksteady,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, dub,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of North America, Europe, and elsewhere, and signing to notable punk label

Hellcat Records Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, w ...

. The members of the Slackers have also been known to perform in other bands and musical projects, including Reggae Workers of the World, David Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven,

Crazy Baldhead Sound System Crazy Baldhead is a side project of The Slackers headed by Jayson "Agent Jay" Nugent. Crazy Baldhead plays an innovative style of music that mixed reggae, ska, dub, rock and dancehall. Members of the band include Eddie Ocampo, Victor Rice, V ...

, Da Whole Thing, The Hall Trees,

Stubborn All-Stars Stubborn All-Stars are an American, New York City-based ska band led by King Django, front man of Skinnerbox and owner of Stubborn Records. In 1994, Django assembled Stubborn All-Stars for a studio session which resulted in the four-song ''Old ...

, and the

SKAndalous All Stars The SKAndalous All-Stars are an American ska band, composed of members of The Slackers, the Skatalites, Mephiskapheles, the Stubborn All-Stars, Agent 99, Ruder Than You, Sic & Mad, The Excalibur, Cocktaillica, The Hurtin' Buckaroos, Living C ...

Vic Ruggiero Victor "Vic" Ruggiero, (also known as Rugaroo, Bad Vic or Lord Sluggo) is a musician, songwriter and producer from New York City who has played in reggae, blues, ska and rocksteady bands since the early 1990s, including The Slackers, Stubb ...

performs as a solo act performing both original compositions as well as reworked Slackers songs, and has also played keyboards and piano on several Rancid albums.

Career

The band's second album, ''Redlight'', released on September 23, 1997, was ranked number seven in '' Billboard'' editor Carrie Bell's "The Year in Music (1997)" list. The album's track with the same name charted at number 116 on the week of November 10, 1997—the song's third week—in

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

Radio Top 200.CMJ Top 200
Page 7, 10 Nov 1997, CMJ New Music Report

Current lineup

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, vocals * Jay "Agent Jay" Nugent –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Dave Hillyard "Disco" Dave Hillyard is a Tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist originating from San Diego, California. He has performed in groups such as The Slackers, The Rocksteady Seven, The Donkey Show (band), The Donkey Show, Hepcat (band), Hepcat, Stubbor ...

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

* Glen Pine –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

, vocals *Marcus Geard – bass *

Ara Babajian Ara Babajian (born July 9, 1972) is an American drummer who has been a member of such bands as Leftöver Crack and The Slackers. Etymology Ara is of Armenian descent, and is named after Ara, an Armenian king. Career Together with Dunia Be ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Former members and contributors

*Marc "Q-Maxx 4:20" Lyn – vocals *TJ Scanlon – guitar *Luis "Zulu" Zuluaga – drums * Jeremy "Mush One" Mushlin –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, vocals *Allen Teboul – drums *Dunia Best- vocals, flute * Jeff "King Django" Baker – trombone *Tobias Fields – congas * Eric "Erok" Singer –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

*Dave Hahn – lead guitar *Ben Lewis –

*Justin Redekop –

Former producers and collaborators

*Victor Rice – producer and bass *Zack Levine – producer *Eric Sierra – songwriter *David Lindome – producer

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Better Late Than Never'' (1996) *'' Redlight'' (1997) *'' The Question'' (1998) *'' Wasted Days'' (2001) *'' The Slackers and Friends'' (2002) *'' Close My Eyes'' (2003) *''An Afternoon in Dub'' (2005) *''

Slackness Slackness refers to vulgarity in West Indian culture, behavior, and music. It also refers to a subgenre of dancehall music with straightforward sexual lyrics performed live or recorded. Its form and pronunciation varies throughout the Caribbean. ...

'' (with Chris Murray) (2005) *'' Peculiar'' (2006) *'' The Boss Harmony Sessions'' (2007) *''

Self Medication Self-medication is a human behavior in which an individual uses a substance or any exogenous influence to self-administer treatment for physical or psychological conditions: for example headaches or fatigue. The substances most widely used in s ...

'' (2008) *'' The Great Rocksteady Swindle'' (2010) *''The Radio'' (2011) *''The Slackers'' (2016) *''Don’t Let The Sunlight Fool Ya'' (2022)

EPs

*'' International War Criminal'' (2004) *''The Slackers/Pulley Split'' (2004) *''My Bed Is A Boat'' (2013)

Singles

*"2-Face" (1996) *"Minha Menina" (2007) *"Dreidel" (2009) *"New Years Day" (Urban Pirate Records, 2010)

Demo cassettes

*'' Do the Ska with The Slackers'' (1992) *''

The Slackers The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of Nort ...

'' (1993)

Live albums

*'' Live at Ernesto's'' (2000) *''Upsettin' Ernesto's'' (2004) *''Slack in Japan'' (2005) *''NYC Boat Cruise 2009'' (digital only, 2009) *''Slackfest NYC 2009'' (digital only, 2009) *''Holiday Party With...'' (digital only, 2009) *''Live On the West Side 4/6/10'' (digital only, 2010) *''Live In San Francisco 12/31/10'' (digital only, 2011)

Collections

*'' Before There Were Slackers There Were...'' (1999) *''Big Tunes! Hits & Misses from 1996 to 2006'' (2007) *''Lost and Found'' (2009) *''Stash Box'' (2011) *''Before Hellcat'' (2011) (

USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...

release) *''Ganbare!'' (2011) (Japan only release)

Compilations

*'' Give 'Em the Boot'' *''

Give 'Em the Boot II Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid ...

'' *''

Give 'Em the Boot III Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid ...

'' *''

Give 'Em the Boot IV Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid ...

'' *''

Give 'Em the Boot V Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an offshoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, the owner of Epitaph, and Tim Armstrong of Rancid ...

'' *''Give 'Em the Boot VI'' *''This Is Special Potatoe Vol. 1'' *''From New York to Luxembourg (Live @ the Kufa)'' (with P.O. Box, Kunn & the Magic Muffins and Toxkäpp) * ''New York Beat: Breaking and Entering Volume 2''

DVDs

*''Give 'Em the Boot'' (2005): "And I Wonder" *''The Slackers: A Documentary'' (2007) *''The Flamingo Cantina Series with The Slackers'' (2009)

References

External links

The Slackers official homepageInterview with The Slackers onwww.grundfunk.netInterview with the Slackers' singer Vic Ruggiero about the album Self Medication (2008)Interview and studio session with The Slackers on National Public Radio (2001)
* AMG entrybr>The Slackers collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive
The Slackers' Chords
a website dedicated to The Slackers' music
Management (Europe) Tourbooking (GER, AUT, CZ, DK, CH)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slackers, The 1991 establishments in New York City American ska musical groups Hellcat Records artists Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups from New York City Third-wave ska groups