It's a fine line that separates homage from imitation. Extra Classic's Your Light Like White Lightning, Your Light Like a Laser Beam was recorded analog with vintage '70s equipment, the overarching goal being to create an album that sounds like it was laid down in Lee Perry's Black Ark Studios. The warm, loping reggae
vibes, and singer Dri (better known locally as the former Anniversary keyboardist and singer Adrianne Verhoeven) croons sweetly over the island rhythms of producer Alex deLanda. But it's when Extra Classic steps away from Jamaican styles and imbues the album with some disparate influences that Your Light really takes off. The furious psychedelic guitar coupled with Dri's soaring vocals on "Give Them the Same" ably demonstrates that Extra Classic is capable of much more than tribute. And on album closer "Give Me Your Love," the band steps away from reggae entirely, into a more bluesy, more soulful R&B space — a welcome style for Extra Classic to try on next time out.
