I have to start by telling you that I've been anticipating this release for quite some time and because I'm a fan, this may come across as a bit biased.  For the unaware among us, Slackness is a collaborative project between Chris Murray and The Slackers.  I'll have to admit I was taken a bit by surprise with Slackness.  I wasn't sure what to expect, so let me tell you what I got.  12 great tracks of the heart and soul of ska.  The recording offers up a smorgasboard of ska reggae and roots, some old and some new.  Slackness starts with a great cover of "Janie Jones" and into a more traditional Chris sounding track that appears to be co-written with Dan Potthast of Mu330 fame. (admittedly I'm assuming here based on the writing credits.)  The CD continues into a few remakes of older Chris songs with the added twist of being backed by The Slackers, one of the hardest working bands in ska today.  I particularly enjoy "Rastaman Rock", a tuffed up version of the original.  The tracks close with a ironically upbeat war protest song entitled, "Why We Go To War".  I guess this is like the magical moment when someone got their peanut butter on someone else's chocolate.  If you've ever wondered what Chris would sound like backed up by a full band of the caliber of the Slackers, give Slackness a whirl.  Out now on Unstrictly Roots  In closing, you can tell that Chris Murray is totally OG … Check that freakin' bling homie!

–Jerry Actually

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