Whenever I get an email, my first priority is the music. Invariably, there’s other writing, usually artist biography info, but I ignore until I’ve heard the music. If I like the music, I read up on the artist and maybe post it. But when I got the email containing Extra Classic’s debut single, “Congo Rebel” I have to admit I was a little blown off my rocker for a simple reason: the track sounds like it came from 40 years ago.
I have an old Bob Marely record I love to put on that sounds a lot like this song. Why was I getting a press release about a band that clearly is not new? Well, I thought, maybe they’re some awesome obscure Caribbean band that’s working with nothing other than the old equipment they have. It sounds like the kind of gem you’d come across in an old box of 45′s, with a ridiculous cover picture and dust all over.
So, for the first time, I read through a press release just to know why the song I liked so much sounded like it did. The “explanation of our sound” is pretty common aspect of artists’ info, so I figured I was bound to find it. I did.
Extra Classic is the project of Adrianna Verhoeven and Alex deLanda, a duo out of San Fransisco of all places. “Congo Rebel” is their debut single. The track, clearly an homage to the sounds of early Jamaican music, is a great, laid-back track like the best of that early era music. As for the sound? Well, according to the release, the band recorded on all analog equipment from the 60′s and 70′s and then diligently engineered the tracks to capture that sound.
“Congo Rebel” strikes me as a better version of the girl group surf-pop that’s become popular recently in indie music. They adopt the lo-fi aesthetic, sure, but they do so with a unique bent that really feels fresh. I mean, the skanking guitar sounds incredible, more like a sample than an actual recording. It helps too that they’ve written a great song that works perfectly with the sound they’ve chosen.
You can pick the 7″ of “Congo Rebel” from their own Nopal Records here.
Or simply hit them up on iTunes.
They’ve got a full-length coming up and I’ll definitely be watching this band in the future.
Congo Rebel by Extra Classic
And a dub version:
Congo Rebel Version by Extra Classic
white faces doing Jamaican music?????
what do white chicks know about Jamaican music???????
listen to this song and you can hear they can not get it right.
leave it to the real people my dear. and leave my brother Gregory alone and no longer steal his wonderful album as your name.
and a “Congo Rebel” no less, what rubbish.
my friend nkunda, now he is a rebel.
what do white people really know about us.
so i suppose someone should’ve told bad brains not to play the white man’s punk music? doesn’t follow. music is music.
@Mesiekie-What an incredibly prejudiced comment! You must miss out on a lot of joy with this attitude-so sorry and sad for you! What do you know of anything?
This shit is way wicked!
Not (modern) “reggae,” thank God!