VIA PRESS RELEASE | Legendary reggae act The Slackers have announced that their 1998 album, The Question, will be reissued via Pirates Press Records. The double LP, available in 12″ black and 12″ blue and green “Galaxy” vinyl, will be available on March 3rd on Pirates Press Records’ webstore and on March 24th in record stores around the world.
This release is the latest chapter in the fruitful relationship between The Slackers and Pirates Press Records. With the reissue of The Question joining those of Redlight, Wasted Days, and Live at Ernesto’s, the band’s LP output from their explosive creative period between 1997-2000—as well as the acclaimed 2006 LP Peculiar—are all back in print on vinyl for fans and collectors alike! The band has also issued their best-selling brand new LP Don’t Let the Sunlight Fool Ya via the label, alongside numerous 12″ and 7″ singles.
The Question was originally released in 1998 on Hellcat Records and followed up their breakthrough, critically-acclaimed release Redlight. While Redlight put them squarely in the spotlight of the reggae and ska scenes of the late ’90s, The Question undoubtedly reaffirmed that they were deserving of such recognition. CMJ’s Mark Woodlief proclaimed The Question was “…one of the brightest and most understated moments of the modern ska era.”
The Slackers took no time in 2022 making up for two years of inactivity due to the pandemic. Last spring, the band released Don’t Let The Sunlight Fool Ya which hit #1 on the Billboard Reggae Charts. They coupled this with relentless touring and could’ve easily rest on this. Instead, they then released a two-song 12″ UV printed record called “New York Berlin / Tell Them No” which added two more tracks to their already massive catalog. In support of these new releases and reissues, the band will continue to travel the world including an already announced U.S. tour coupled with several European festival appearances.
Rolling Stone has 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.
Fourteen 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 have remained the standard bearer for modern ska and reggae. 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.”
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. The 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.”
