Album Details

• Artist: Extra Classic
• Album: Your Light Like White Lightning, Your Light Like A Laser Beam
• Label: Manimal Vinyl
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2011-08-21

Not many bands try to re-recreate an old sound without sounding like they are trying too hard. For a band to try this on their debut is pretty ballsy, but Extra Classic pull it off. The tunes on "Your Light Like White Lightning, Your Light Like a Laser Beam" are not retro takes on dub so much as the production makes use of old school techniques to create a singular sound.

San Francisco duo Alex de Landa and Adrianne Verhoeven recorded this set in analog on 8 track tape, and while they don't totally reproduce Studio One in 1969, it is clear that wasn't the goal. There is a pop sheen and gritty bite competing with dub on these ten tracks, and the mix is hypnotic and fun.

The opener, "Congo Rebel," bursts with a funky psychedelic groove, as does the guitar-heavy "Give Them The Same," though the latter expresses a reggae feel more overtly. Of the reggae tracks, "You Can't Bring Me Down" and "Creation" have a smooth echo that make the most of the vintage equipment.

Where the band hit their stride is on their unique hybrid of rock and dub. "Metal Tiger" and "Electric Stars" sound like the best songs sound-timeless, and like you've grown up with them. Songs this good are easy to memorize, and you will.

Extra Classic's debut is much more than the hype surrounding the equipment used to record it. What makes "Your Light Like White Lightning, Your Light Like a Laser Beam" is the dub-drone-pop hybrid of the songs, songs which show much respect to the past but ride on their own glory.

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