The vaults of Jamaican rocksteady are still a great source of undiscovered and usually uncovered songs. This was the sound that flourished between ska and reggae, more romantic than the former but less spiritual than the latter. You could discover these songs through a long stretch of crate-digging—or you could just go see 007 and hear them played with all the groove and spirit of the originals.

Nobody in the 007 lineup necessarily needs another band, so this has all the earmarks of a labor of love. They play these vintage songs faithfully, but not slavishly: They usually make the tempo a bit faster and the production a bit cleaner but they’re out to spotlight these songs, not redefine them. This kind of music hinges on the vocal and the rhythm section, and group leader Jeffrey Clemens (normally of G-Love & Special Sauce) succeeds at both: He’s got the kind of sweet tenor voice that the Jamaican producers loved, and he locks in groove wise with Joe Cabral, making a relatively rare turn on bass. That leaves guitarists Alex McMurray and Jonathan Freilich to play the kind of sharp, economical parts that drove the originals.

Side two (yes, you want this on vinyl) opens with “All in One,” which isn’t the Bob Marley song but a nice shout-out to the A-list of rock steady artists. Also covered here are Ken Boothe (a few times), Desmond Dekker and Toots & the Maytals, but not with songs you usually hear. The one that really grabbed me was a tune I’d never heard before: “Every Night” (not the McCartney one). It sounds like a spooky Jamaican take on ’50’s doo-wop, and a YouTube search revealed that the original was by Joe White & Chuck. 007’s version maintains the spooky ambiance (and the Hawaiian guitar) but replaces the original’s murkiness with the kick of a live band. It’s a neat bit of musicology that you can dance and make out to.