F
REVIEWS
Peculiar
by The Slackers
Variety usually isn't associated with ska albums, but The Slackers manage serve up some on their most recent effort, *Pecular*.
The Slackers, known for their heavily traditional ska roots, break out with reggae, soul, pop and more to make *Peculiar* one of the best ska albums I've ever heard.
The album starts with a classic ska anthem "86 the Mayo," which will be sure to get people on the dance floor. On "Propaganda," the Slackers show
their reggae influences. "I'd Rather Die Happy" slows things down and features just the acoustic guitar and vocals of frontman
Vic Ruggiero. Two of my favorite tracks are "Set The Girl Free" and "What Went Wrong," which sound like Motown classics from the
★★★
"605. The album closes with the soullful "I Shall Be Released," leaving listeners with another classic Slackers track.
With Peculiar you might think there may be a future for ska, a genre plagued by generic bands in the last several years. The Slackers manage to combine the old sounds with new ideas, making Peculiar worth hearing for any ska fan.
LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN
Chris Brower
MOVIE
Out of all the movies I've seen this year, Lucky Number Slevin is, hands down, the one with the best wallpaper.
It has a few other things going for it, too, though nothing in the movie is as bold as the set design. There are many plot twists, but they somehow manage to be
surprising in a predictable way.
Watching the story unfold is like watching a puzzle put itself together; no mental effort is required, and you can tell where
each piece is going to fit just before it's put in place.
The roles are not demanding, but the actors seem to enjoy themselves. Morgan Freeman probably was relieved to take a break from dispensing earthly wisdom; in *Lucky Number Slevin*, he gets to play the Boss, a paranoid New York crime lord seeking revenge against the Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) for the death of his son. With the help of Bruce Willis (playing that same guy he always plays), the Boss railroads hapless Skelin (Josh Hartnett) into killing
the Rabbi's son.
Slevin takes his amazingly bad luck in stride. He remains unfazed for the first half of the movie, even as he's shunted back and forth between the two crime lords' headquarters, his nose broken, wearing nothing but a towel. In most movies, Josh
Hartnett looks as if his dog just got hit by a truck, and it's enjoyable to watch him having fun for once.
L u c k y Number Slevin never really builds up the level of expectation
that it takes for a movie to be disappointing. It makes few promises, and delivers on all of them.
I give the movie two stars.The third star is for the wallpaper.
★★★
Kit Fluker
18> JAYPLAY 04.13.2006
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN