Throwing Away The Pie, Picking Up the Slack

This past week, veteran ska acts the Pietasters, formed in 1990 in Washington D.C., and the Slackers, formed in 1991 in New York City, each rolled out a new album. Both bands have toured the ska circuit for several years and are just now starting to gain the recognition given to such bands as The Toasters, The Skatalites and The Scofflaws. Each is a seven piece band utilizing the trumpet and saxophone in the horn section. The Pietasters further take on a trombone in their horn section while the Slackers add a keyboard as their seventh piece.

Unfortunately, for all their similarities, they could not put out equally enjoyable albums.

From the first seconds of Willis, the Pietasters premiere effort on Hellcat Records (they previously recorded on Moon Records), the band evidently attempts to follow the path to the main-stream created by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The Bosstones, however, made the leap while still maintaining a high standard of instrumentation, song writing and vocals. On Willis, Steve Jackson, the singer for the Pietasters, all too often comes off as a poor man's Dicky Barrett. While Barrett of the Bosstones can pull off a scratchy, cigarette-tarnished voice, Jackson instills a pain rarely felt. Not since Biz Markie crooning, "Just a Friend," has there been a more shrill and annoying voice. It's a shame, too, for Jackson overpowers the superb effort put out by the band's horn section.

In contrast, Redlight, the first effort on Hellcat for the Slackers as well, offers up the ska beat at its finest. The Slackers combine Latin rhythms, big band and Jamaican reggae to create their own unique sound.

Listening to Redlight takes you back to the kinder and gentler days of youth culture, a time of high school sock-hops in small town America. Besides singing about love and heartbreak, the Slackers also sing about smoking marijuana and being "Rude and Reckless." A wide array of guest musicians further supports this old-time party. While Jackson irritatingly crows for the Pietasters, the Slackers use a three-headed singing attack of Victor Ruggiero, Marq Lyn and Jeremy Mushlin. The variety of individual vocal styles enhances the appeal of Redlight.

Like the Pietasters horn section, the Slackers trumpet and saxophone lay down a steady beat and background ska tone. While shining on occasional solos, the musicianship of the Slackers is most apparent on a pair of superb instrumentals, "Cooking for Tommy" and "Tin Tin Deo," that mark the album's two opposite musical poles. "Cooking for Tommy" is the opening number on Redlight and is described by the band as "a major key, Latin-goes-ska number" that showcases the band's horns. "Tin Tin Deo," with guest percussionist Larry McDonald, exhibits the significant Jamaican reggae influence on the band's rhythm section.

With songs like "Ocean" and "Stone Feeling," the Pietasters also display their instrumental talents. Throughout Willis, Toby Hansen (trumpet), Jeremy Roberts (trombone) and Alan Makranczy (saxo-phone) provide listeners with terrific melodies to elaborate on the ska beat. Within a half a minute of the start of most songs, however, the vocals come on and destroy any satisfaction the tracks could offer.

Although the album is an unpleasant listen overall, there are a couple bright spots. The Pietasters are not incapable of making good music; gems like "Out All Night" and "Without You" prove Jackson can sing. Why he chooses to fill his throat with phlegm and croak out songs for the rest of the album is beyond understanding.

Besides their instrumentals, the Slackers shine most brightly on their title track, "Redlight," a soulful song about a lost love that recalls the music of Bob Marley, and "I Still Love You," a synthesis of the two-tone ska beat with vocals reminiscent of the ageless classic songs that fortunately still flourish today on oldies radio stations. Throughout Redlight, the Slackers prove their mettle. Ska music, much like punk music, is easy to play but very difficult to make original. With this release, the Slackers unveil a new dimension in ska music that will hopefully spark greater recognition and more widespread touring for the septet.

What the Pietasters set out to do--create a commercially popular ska album--the Slackers have accomplished without even trying. The Slackers do not fit into any commercial mold, but it would be difficut to find anyone who would dislike Redlight, as Victor Ruggiero (who luckily boasts of 200 new songs in his back pocket) and his six mates flaunt their musical talent and imagination to grand effect.

Although bands like No Doubt have drawn widespread success, they do not truly represent ska music since they, for the most part, lack the true ska beat and are glaringly deficient in their use of horns. But what they seem to have done is what the nation's appetite for what ska sound demands. If you find that type of music at all appealing, go out and buy Redlight, because it represents everything that is good about ska music. As for the Pietasters' new album, leave it on the shelf. Although they bring with them a much bigger reputation and fan base, the Pietasters should scrap their tunes on Willis and give a listen to the Slackers. They just might learn how to make a great ska album.