The Slackers
Self Medication
2008 Indication Records

Self Medication isn’t just the title of the Slackers upcoming release, it’s a suggestion. Sample a heavy dose of your favorite remedy, and let your headphones do the rest. The Slackers have taken their recent affinity of Tropiclia and taken it one step further by adding strong US and Brazilian psychedelic elements to their already groovy ska and reggae.

The first truely stand-out track on the album is “Estranged”, with lyrics and vocals from Glen Pine. This foggy tune is as much reminiscent of Far East Reggae as it is The Fun Boy Three. Haunting is one way to put it, but haunted may be more appropriate. As with “Estranged”, the title track, “Self Medication,” reveals a side to Ruggiero’s keys that we haven’t heard before. Synthy and psychedelic, they push the skank rhythm to the dark and sinister sides of The Slackers’ psyches. But it’s the track, “Eviction” that finds the Slackers in theit most novel style of the record- this modern-day “In the Ghetto” recalls Blaxploitation soundtracks as well as classic Jamaican shanty songs.

“Stars” is arguably the most interesting track on the record. Ruggiero plays with vocal overdubs in this expansion of his solo style. However, this song reaches further than Vic’s one-man-band- until it’s dizzying climax fades into it’s lullaby denouement.

But the record isn’t experimental all over. In “Don’t You Want a Man,” Hillyard adds to his growing songbook of socially charged lyrics that sound like love songs. (Or is it a break-up tune that sounds like a protest song?) “Leave Me” and “Happy Song” are straight forward Ska with all the up-beat energy you’d expect, but in a classic Slackers move they have less-than-upbeat lyrical themes. “Happy Song,” in particular seems like a minor attempt, on Hillyard’s part, to simply cheer up.

Several songs on Self Medication explore the singing someone else’s song as a metaphor for standing up for the ideals of those you’ve allied yourself with. This idea of singing someone else’s “happy song” began in the song, “Close My Eyes,” and is now being echoed not only on “Happy Song” but on Sing Your Song”- and to a lesser degree, “Don’t Forget the Streets.” Take it or leave it, but I believe many of these tunes are an re-affirmation of commitment from the band. Nearly every member of the band contributed lyrics to The Slackers’ new album and I’ll keep listening for however long they decide to sing each other’s songs.

Look for it later this month.

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Comments (0) Apr 11 2008

The concept of the newest release from The Slackers’ sax man, Dave Hillyard is nothing short of genius. We’ve heard his talent for composition, not only with The Slackers but also on The Rocksteady 7’s first two records. Anyone who’s seen him live can attest to the mind blowing effect his solos can produce, and that was captured on Way out East, Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7’s 2007 live record.

Now we have a new way to experience Hillyard’s Bop via Jamaica-style of Saxophone. Dave Hillyard Plays the Hits of Jackpot finds our hero riding the riddims of 13 classic reggae tracks from the Jackpot catalog. Like the DJ’s of the old sound systems, Hillyard improvises and reinterprets the songs on the fly, but instead of toasting with his voice… well you get the idea.

The idea was conceived by Glen Adams (original Upsetter, original Hippy Boy, original Augustus Pablo and sometimes Slacker). All of the original tracks are either produced by Bunny Lee or Lloyd Charmers, with the current production credits going to Glen Adams and King Django.

The whole record has a very familiar feel to it, and the new recordings fit seamlessly into these classic tracks.

Check out some of the cuts at Dave’s MySpace
And grab a copy of the disc over at JumpUp! -I did.

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Comments (0) Apr 02 2008

No, no.  Not another Slackers interview from Ska Blah Blah, but this two part show is so great that I have to direct your attention to it.  Don’t let the non-English website and show introduction fool you, the interview is conducted in English and is chock full of wonderfully selected Slackers and Specials music.  Thanks to Martin for hipping me to this.

Road Rush on GrundFunk.net’s Interview with Vic and Dave from The Slackers:

Part 1

Part 2

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Comments (0) Mar 31 2008

In case you haven’t noticed, we are now living in a New Year. It’s a time to reflect on the year before, a time to ask, “what were the best Ska and Reggae albums of the past 12 months?” More importantly, it’s a time where I answer that very question, in the form of various Top 5 lists.

Top Ska Albums

1. The Pietasters – All Day I hesitate to call this a Ska album since it is largely Reggae with a fair share of Rock n’ Roll and Garage mixed into the track list. But the Pietasters will always be a Ska band at heart, and this album is their best yet.
2. The Pepperpots – Shake It! I’d really like to hear the Pepperpots get a bit rawer. Shake It! is fantastic all over, although sterile at times. These girls are onto something.
3. The Skatalites – On the Right Track I’ve reviewed this album previously, so to make a long story short: It’s far from the original line-up, but this album delivers new songs in the quintessential, straight forward Ska that you would expect.
4. Kingston Kitchen – Today’s Special Not a full album, but Dr. Ring Ding fronts this Jazzy outfit through 6 tracks that push the stylistic boundaries of Ska-Jazz.
5. Deals Gone Bad – The Ramblers These guys seem poised to be major players in the Ska scene. This album, once started, has a tendency to play all the way through. The soulful vocals and jazzy solos keep my fingers off of the skip button. But don’t rest on your laurels yet DGB, with power comes responsibility.

Top Dub Albums

1. The Drastics – Waiting Easily my most played album of last year, and I haven’t had it for very long. Their brand of Dub is heavy and multifaceted, but never a nuisance. It’s mellow enough to be background music, but experimental enough to pay attention too. It is perfect Dub.
2. Crazy Baldhead – Has a Posse Agent Jay has a very home made approach to Dub, and his recording aesthetic directly effects the end product. Warm and analog- very Version City.
3. Ticklah – Ticklah vs Axelrod Brilliant Ska and Jazz Dubs in the style of Victor Rice. Rice is, in fact, on about half of the tracks. However, unlike In America, TvA has vocal tracks by a handful of musicians, while Rice tends to play straight instrumentals. I predict big things for Ticklah in the coming years.
4. The Eternals – Heavy International This is not the mellow Dub Reggae that you used to see in the genre, this is noisy- circus style syncopation with mind warping effects, urban poetry and unsteady beats. The Eternals aggression has not fallen on deaf ears.
5. Unnamed – The Good, The Bad and The Queen Damon Albarn now has side projects to his side projects. Blur and The Gorillaz front man, teamed up with the Clash’s Paul Simonon and Danger Mouse. Not a Dub album, and certainly not a Reggae album, GBQ is slow tempo Rock with moody Dub elements that make it worth mentioning here.

Top Early/Skinhead Reggae

1. The Aggrolites – Reggae Hit LA My downstairs neighbor must hate it when I play this disc, because nothing gets my feet going like The Aggrolites.
2. Tim Armstrong – Life of a Poet This record, backed by The Aggrolites is like a night out with the band and Armstrong, themselves. The tempo is steady and the drop is Skinhead, but there’s a Punky- sometimes Clubby sound to Life of a Poet.
3. Green Room Rockers – Hoosier Homegrown These guys seemed to pop up out of nowhere, and now they’re winning over audiences on the East Coast. There is room for them to grow still, but a very impressive first album.

• I have to give Honorable Mention to a few other bands who had Early-Style Reggae offerings from 2006, but didn’t become easily available (to me) until this last year. The Upsessions and The Caroloregians both released records that would have rivaled The Aggrolites for the top spot. I hope that in ‘08 I will hear more from both bands.

Favorite Tracks

1. Dr. Ring-Ding and Vic Ruggiero – What it Takes
2. Tim Armstrong – Inner City Violence
3. The Slackers – Mind Your Own Business
4. The Pietasters – G to F
5. Bedoin Soundclash – Nico on the Night Train

Albums Worth Mentioning

Some of these listed here are being noted for being torch carriers in other revivalist genres; and some for adeptly mixing various traditional sounds. It’s this that I look for in music, Jamaican influenced or not.

1. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – 100 Days 100 Nights
2. Antibalas – Security EP
3. Beastie Boys – The Mix Up
4. Manu Chao – La Radiolina
5. Ozomatli – Don’t Mess with the Dragon

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Comments (0) Jan 02 2008

Here’s a quick rundown of a very busy week in the world of Ska:

After months without any new Slackers bootlegs, a new set hit the internet hit the internet like a cannonball. Recorded in Syracuse, NY on 11.15.07, the set has been dubbed Funk n’ Waffles, after the venue of the same name. I can attest to the live set’s quality, so feel safe clicking here for the .zip file, or here for the original post at Stubborn Records Forum.

Speaking of The Slackers, Dave Hillyard recently posted a very optomistic, State of the Scene-type blog post. What does he say? Ska is making a comeback. But you knew that. Link

This isn’t breaking news, but in light of Hillyard’s positive post, it serves proof of the scene’s recent strength. The popular series of Ska compilations, United Colors of Ska has just released their fourth installment, or 4.0. Much like my recent selections, the UCS folks have been using MySpace as the catalyst for finding new Ska music from around the world. Link

The Holidays are upon us (is Hanukkah really over, already?) and DC Ska is making it easy for you to find the perfect gifts for all the Ska Geeks on your list, with their handy Gift Guide. Link

Go Jimmy Go has gotten into the X-Mas mode, as well, giving us all the gift of a Holiday themed album, Holiday Hell Yeah. Link

Victor Rice is still bustin ass and maintaining his rep as the go to guy for all things Ska. Look for new recordings by Stingers ATX, Buford O’Sullivan, Chris Murray Combo, and Crazy Balhead (feat. Alex Desert, King Django, Steve Jackson, Bucket, and Vic Ruggiero) with Mr. Rice at the mixing board, next year. He’s also involved (to some degree) with a new Skatalites Live DVD.

It would seem that the rumors are sadly true, Lynette Knackstedt, founder and guitarist for Skankin’ Pickle died at the young age of 37. Here is the post where I found out. Here is Mike Parks personal blog post on the subject. And here is an odd turn of events effecting Lynette’s estate.

The other night, my roommate and all around cool guy, Jameson played about 6 Skankin Pickle songs for me and Dira at the 521A. We remarked at how long it had been since we played them. Jameson translated a few Korean lyrics for us. I commented at what a bad-ass guitarist the Pickle’s had. I would later learn that Lynette died sometime that evening. It was an eerie coincidence that my friends and I were missing Skankin Pickle while Knackstedt’s family was missing her.

Sources: DC Ska, Dancin Mood, Stubborn Forums, Asian Man Records, and Do the Dog Skazine

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Comments (2) Dec 13 2007