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If you’re going to have a ska band, you better have a smoking horn section, and a tricky rhythm section, too, while you’re at it.

The Slackers, a long-running ska outfit, have the key parts, knowing where to layer in the harmonies, the open space between the syncopations and all of the choice flourishes. The Slackers are from New York, and their ska is flavored with soul and punk, meaning they have songs and attitude besides genre-purist style points.

But it’s singer Vic Ruggiero who makes the Slackers’ songs more than just dance-floor fodder — which would be good enough — injecting a little dark humor and heartache, plus a refreshing Bronx accent, into the mix. In case you’re counting, 2016 marks the band’s 25th year in action.

See the Slackers, with the Hempsteadys and the Screw-Ups, at The Ballroom at the Outer Space in Hamden on Friday, Feb 19, at 8:30 p.m. $16 to $20. 203-288-6400, theouterspace.net.