The Slackers Hit #1 On The Current Reggae Chart

New York City, NY — April 28, 2022 — New York City reggae legends THE SLACKERS have hit #1 on the Current Reggae Charts with their new album Don’t Let The Sunlight Fool Ya. This record, their first in 7 years and 15th full-length in their career, is now available on Pirates Press Records’ webstore. The band will be touring in support of the record all year long across North America and Europe.

Overwhelmingly rave reviews have been pouring in so far, as New Noise Magazine exclaims “Seven years is along time to wait for new music, but The Slackers more than made up for it with their latest offering” and BrooklynVegan adds “All of the elements of their classic sound are present in this collection of songs that range from laid-back reggae to upbeat ska in the way that only The Slackers can.”

The process for bringing this chart topping album to life was one that was met with the COVID trials and tribulations that make this feat even more remarkable. The band used their sound engineer’s house to practice and record while also trying to accommodate everyone’s personal situations.

“The main challenge/s we had to overcome in making the record had to do with distance, finding a way to involve Vic and Glen, who live on the West Coast and thus 3000 miles from the rest of the band. We put half the band in one room, half the band in another, we continued to wear masks around each other, put a giant shield around the drums and just hoped for the best. Glen and Vic very graciously gave up their West Coast lives to live at Marc Critelli’s house for 2 months while we completed the majority of the record,” remarked drummer Ara Babajian.

Rolling Stone recently hailed The Slackers as “THE legendary New York City ska band” and this is by no means hyperbole. Having formed in 1991, The Slackers released their debut album in 1996, Better Late Than Never, and then signing with Epitaph Records and releasing their breakthrough full-length, Redlight, in 1997. From there, the band traveled the world and began to develop a prolific audience through their fun and energetic shows.

14 full-lengths later, countless EPs, singles, and touring all around the world playing to thousands and thousands of fans from Tokyo, Japan to their hometown of New York City, The Slackers return with Don’t Let The Sunlight Fool Ya. Marc Wasserman, author of “Skaboom! An American Ska & Reggae Oral History,” says The Slackers’ “…songs are about real darkness, depression, anger, sadness and loneliness, and some of the political songs as well are pretty vibrant.”

“In the middle of 2020, every time we started doing a livestream, we would stay after and start recording new music. By the middle of 2021, we had an album recorded. A lot of these tunes like “Don’t Let The Sunlight Fool Ya” were written right after we had just gotten out of lockdown,” says Hillyard.

The New York Times dubbed the Slackers part of ‘the sound of New York,’ and The Slackers just keep at it, only improving with age and experience – writing better and better songs, and continuing to build and strengthen that global Slackers family. Washington Post has described the impact The Slackers have left on the ska scene: “The Slackers have become the elder statesmen in American ska music, setting the stage for a new generation of musicians and a thriving scene….they remain at the top of their game.”