Great Rock-Steady Swindle, The

The Slackers – the Great Rocksteady Swindle
Reviewed by Sadie O., 7/22/10
Old-school Ska, mixed with rocksteady, 60’s rock, dub, garage (but not punk). 6-piece band from NYC with horn section, keyboards… The music is generally really good, and I kinda wish there were more instrumentals. Sometimes they seem a bit too earnest, which isn’t really what I expected. Still, fun stuff.
FCC (in passing) on 15. I like 8-10 best.
1. 3:38 ***fine mid-tempo OG SKA. Incongruous but pleasant bit of harmonica.
2. 2:53 ***swingy midtempo rocksteady with chimes.
3. 3:40 ***little British spoken word intro, groovy downtempo rocksteady with echoes, fun lyrics.
4. 4:18 **boppy midtempo with a hint of The Band
5. 4:30 ***dub intro, downtempo reggae, echo-y dub with effects.
6. 3:10 ***60’s rock/soul, mutating into ska. Nice.
7. 3:35 ***proper old school ska.
8. 3:02 ****midtempo ska, fun vocals.
9. 3:15 ****uptempo with farfisa and fine lyrics.
10. 3:55 ****midtempo rocksteady with terribly mysterious dub vibes. The fact that it’s a cover of an absolutely godawful song makes it better, somehow.
11. 4:23 **sprightly upbeat ska with swishy drumsticks, bitter lyrics.
12. 3:51 *sweet, wistful folky blancmange.
13. 2:47 ***uptempo and upbeat 4/4 60’s rock.
14. 3:20 **what it would sound like if John Sebastian (Loving Spoonful) did ska. I just wonder whether he thinks he’s Michael Franti. Pleasant enough, anyway.
15. 3:44 (FCC: “shit” x 2)****proper OG ska, a bit uptempo. Everything’s right except that little FCC moment… Shit!