The Slackers "The Great Rocksteady Swindle"

[Ian Skoidat]

On April 20th, 2010 Hellcat Records will be releasing The Slackers new studio album, "The Great Rocksteady Swindle". This will be the groups first album on Hellcat Records since 2006's, "Peculiar".

Vic Ruggiero, premiered a few songs from, "The Great Rocksteady Swindle", on East Village Radio the other night(February 8th). Some of the new songs included studio versions of, "Cheated" and "Because", as well as an acoustic(in the studio)version of a new song I didn't catch the name of. You can take a listen here http://www.eastvillageradio.com/shows/nowplaying.aspx?contentid=1210&showid=2146

What do you guys think of the new songs? I really like, "Because". I'll have to give, "Cheated", another listen. Who's looking forward to the new album?

[NJSkaStomp]

Heard about half the album, it was gnarly.
_________________

[Ian Skoidat]

Hellcat Records has posted some more info on the upcoming Slackers album, "The Great Rocksteady Swindle", as well as a new song, "Anastasia".

From Hellcat Records:

THE SLACKERS RETURN WITH "THE GREAT ROCKSTEADY SWINDLE" ON APRIL 20
February 23, 2010
New York’s eclectic sextet The Slackers will make their triumphant return to usher in the next chapter of ska with the release of The Great Rocksteady Swindle on April 20 via Hellcat Records. The band’s first single, "Anastasia,” can be heard streaming now on the band’s MySpace page.

Featuring classic cuts like "Cheated,” "How It Feels” and "Thank You,” The Great Rocksteady Swindle retains the band’s unforgettable musical style while also adding fresh and vibrant elements to the music on tracks like the roots-rocker "Sabina” and the gritty "Bo Evil.”

What began in New York City some 19 years ago has grown into an international musical phenomenon that blends ska, rocksteady, dub, R&B, Reggae, Soul, Garage Rock, and 60's pop into what leader Vic Ruggiero calls, "Jamaican Rock n Roll."

The Great Rocksteady Swindle is the Slackers 12th studio album and is a credit to the bands continuing vitality and longevity in the music scene. The new album is a collaborative effort from Dave Hillyard (sax), Vic Ruggiero (keyboards, vocals), Jay "Agent Jay" Nugent (guitar), Glen Pine (trombone, vocals), Marcus Geard (bass) and Ara Babajian (drums) with all members contributing to the songwriting."Long Way Off," "Mr. Tragedy" and the electric "Cheated" are immediate standout cuts on an overall strong album. With its spirited mix of realism and optimism The Great Rocksteady Swindle is exactly the type of musical antidote needed in today's angst-ridden times..

"We're trying to make music to last, something that you want to listen to years from now. We've never really been part of a trend. We've always been on the edge of different trends," explains sax player Hillyard. "It's one reason why we haven't gotten hugely famous but also one of the reasons why we've stuck around so long."

Make the music last with The Slackers by picking up a copy of The Great Rocksteady Swindle and catching them on tour this March and April.

The Slackers Tour Dates:
Mar 24 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
Mar 25 – Vancouver, BC – Richshaw Theater
Mar 26 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
Mar 27 – Sandpoint, ID – Taps Bar Lounge
Mar 28 – Spokane, WA – The Blvd
Mar 30 – Bend, OR – Mountains Edge Bar
Mar 31 – Redmond, OR – Timber’s Bar
Apr 1 – Eugene, OR – Wetland’s Bar
Apr 23 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
Apr 24 – San Jose, CA – Bank Club
Apr 25 – Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
Apr 27 – Yuma, AZ – Dunes’ Restaurant
Apr 28 – Phoenix, AZ – Rhythm Room
Apr 29 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
Apr 30 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater
May 1 – Pomona, CA – Glasshouse
June 4 – New York, NY – Highline Ballroom (Record Release Show)
June 5 – Baltimore, MD – Otto Bar

http://www.hell-cat.com/news/article/217

go here to hear the new song http://www.hell-cat.com/artists/album/514/The_Great_Rocksteady_Swindle

[Ian Skoidat]

Here's a preview of The Slackers, "The Great Rocksteady Swindle" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luWBWCFz5t4

What do you guys think? So far, this album reminds me of, "Wasted Days". I'm excited!

Here's what, Dave Hillyard has to say about, "The Great Rocksteady Swindle".

From The Slackers my space page:

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Great Rocksteady Swindle - 4/20/10
Category: Music
Hey everyone,


just wanted to let you guys know about the new cd we have coming out on April 20, 2010.


the great rocksteady swindle!


this cd marks our return to the epitaph/hellcat label after a 4 year absence. Yeah, I know we didnt think we were gonna do another cd with them either!


Anyways, we recorded this album at the end of our last european tour at Harz Kraft Hof Studios in Berlin with the engineer, Jochen Stroeh. We laid down rhythm tracks for some 28 songs and we picked the best 15! (well, 'the best' is always a matter of taste, we will probably get the other rhythms out at some point!)


So what does it sound like? well, we will be putting up some of the new tracks up on the myspace. From my point of view, this album is a a direct gritty album. You can really hear the band rocking out in the room together.


Yes, as the title suggests there is some actual rocksteady on the album. (yes...you anal retentive genre nerds...real rocksteady.) Vic wrote a song called "because" that really recalls Cornell Campbell and the best of that melancholy style.


There are also a couple ska tracks on the album. Actually, quite a few. Ara our drummer had a 'born again' ska experience a couple of months ago and has been really feeling the ska. so we went with his feeling.


and then there's the garage rock influences, some soul, some of vic's ramlinbs. y'know all the stuff you want to hear right?

yes, the title is a play on the sex pistols. but no, no sex pistols covers. at least none we can get caught for! hehehehe.


One of the things that I like about this album is that everyone contributed to the songwriting. Vic wrote 4, I wrote 3, Glen, Jay and Marcus all wrote 2, while Ara wrote 1. But its a big 1, "mr tragedy." that's one of the songs you're gonna hear about. mark my words.


So just to sum up, we got a new cd. 15 tracks. its coming out on hellcat/epitaph. it will be available at indie stores like Amoeba in california, on the internet by http://www.interpunk.com and you can download it at http://www.whatevski.org.
In europe its coming out on Epitaph Europe and in Japan by Disk union.


as of mid-march we are gonna be on the road for 3 months to promote the album. then later in the summer into the fall we are gonna hit the rest. so see you around?.
thanks for the support. dave

[Ian Skoidat]

The Slackers have added, "Mr. Tragedy" to their my space page.

http://www.myspace.com/theslackers

"Mr. Tragedy", has already become one of my favorite Slackers songs. I love the Specials inspired intro.

What do you guys think?

[Ian Skoidat]

Amazon has added snippets of all 15 tracks from, "The Great Rocksteady Swindle".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A061AA/ref=s9_simh_gw_p15_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1CASNN21N058SEA6XS4S&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

Just from listening to these snippets I think it's safe to say this will be The Slackers best studio album since 2003's, "Close My Eyes". I really like "The Same Everyday", "Because", "A Long Way Off", "Tool Shed", "Mr. Tragedy", 'How it Feels", "Cheated", "Bo Evil" , "Ain't No Sunshine" and " The TV Dinner Song".