The Slackers are a 7 piece band based in New York City who play a music based around the "ska" beat" a Jamaican predecessor of reggae that over the years has been mixed with other forms of pop music. The band also plays rocksteady, dub, and reggae rhythms, mixing them with mambo, bossa nova, the boogaloo, 60's garage rock, and occasional doses of punk attitude.

Live, the band takes its cues from the revues of America's past; the swing territory bands of the 1940's, R&B revues of the 1950's, the garage rock and soul groups of the 1960's, with just a dose of the timeless schtick of a lounge act. Vocalists go from sweet ballads to hollering over uptempo numbers. The saxophohe honks and the trumpet smears. The rhythm section of guitars, bass, and drums moves from spaced out dub to swinging R&B to haunting ska. Ring master Vic Ruggiero provides commentary and presides over a show that often includes guest musicians from NYC ska acts such as Skinnerbox and the Stubborn Allstars, and occasionally even legends such as Roland Alphonso, tenor saxophonist of the Skatalites.

The band was originally founded as a 5 piece in 1991. At this time it was Vic Ruggiero on Guitar and Vocals, Marq lyn oh vocals, Marcus Geard on Bass, T.J. Scanlon on guitar, and Luis Zuluaga oh drums. Playing a mix of pop punk and ska similar to the original 2-Tone ska movement of England, the band found a niche in the New York City club scene playing such clubs as The Spiral, Nightingale's, and the Continental Divide. The early Slacker sound is represented on 2 compilation tracks, "Ray Gun Sally" and "Sister Sister."

In 1994, the band added a horn section who were both already ska veterans; Jeremy Mushlin on trumpet who had played with Boston's Allstonisns and Beat Soup, and David Hilliyard, who had played with Los Angeles' Hepcat and Sah Diego's The Donkey Show. in addition, Vic moved from Playing guitar to keyboards. This marked a movement away from the 2-Tone sound towards an incorporation of more "traditional" ska, reggae, and rocksteady rhythms. By 1995, the new sound was beginning to jell into a mix of Jamaican rhythms while still retaining the punk edge of its earlier souhd. In 1996, the Band released its first full-length album, "Better Late Than Never" on Moon records. This album was a mix of traditional ska and rocksteady rhythms pop vocal arrangements, and jazzy horn solos. It produced two "hits" in the ska scene, "Sarah", a sing-a-long jazzy swing/ska number, and "Run Away", a rock/reggae song about the police. the slackers would like to give thanks to: god, our families, our women, our partners in business, our partniers in crime, sonny's bar, the fans, the peeps, the east coast scene, and ska freaks everywhere. the slackers are: victor ruggiero on the keyboards and vocals david hillyard on the saxophone marcus geard on bass t.j. scanlon playing guitar jeremy mushlin on trumpet and vocals luis zuluga banging drums and marq lyn with vocals