The Slackers

One for the purists: The Slackers stick to ska's roots.

Details

Scheduled to perform on Sunday, May 7

Clubhouse Music Venue in Tempe

Related Content

• July 11 In Blogs: Russell Pearce, All-Star Weekend, Red Owl, Hey Joe!, and Radically Inappropriate Porn
  July 11, 2011
• Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto Rocked the Marquee Last Night
  July 11, 2011
• The Toasters @ Martini Ranch
  January 19, 2012
• Grills Gone Wild
  March 24, 2011
• Ska Parade Tour @ The Clubhouse Music Venue
  January 27, 2011

More About

• Vic Ruggiero
• Reel Big Fish
• Ska
• Punk Rock

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Search Google with the phrase "ska sucks" and you'll encounter various vitriolic ventings about how the musical style blows. It's not a surprise, really, as ska has long been considered the whipping boy among musical misanthropes, who unilaterally deride its seemingly repetitive nature and upbeat spirit, or how bands like Reel Big Fish or Goldfinger bastardized the Jamaican-born sound by combining it with pulsating punk rock hooks and tempo. Oddly enough, however, you'd be hard-pressed to find any criticisms of The Slackers, as the NYC-based sextet has earned a bit of respect among the naysayers. Eschewing the "ska punk" aesthetic, band members have spent the past 15 years sticking closer to the genre's dancehall roots (à la The Allstonians or Let's Go Bowling) by incorporating more soulful sounds like jazz, reggae, and dub into their musical mixture. There's also a frenetic energy infusing their songs, which radiates through the golden tones of the blaring horn section, throbbing keyboards, and emotive lyrics from lead singer Vic Ruggiero that might just turn the hard hearts of all the non-skanking cynics out there.