My first thought upon receiving "Economic Dancers" was "wow, you gotta have a lot of balls in order to give your band a name that opens the door to endless SPICE GIRLS references and jokes." Indeed, this 5 piece Viking looking band are not lacking in that department. Another thing chief songwriter and band leader Spice is especially not afraid of is changes. In the five years that passed since their debut album "Feel Like Coming Home", he replaced 2 band members, added a fifth one, changed a record label, changed all band members names to nick names (except for the drummer) and built a recording studio from scratch.

Spice explained the last decision was made in order to be able to have "the time to get it right. We didn't want to rush it. We wanted to fill the songs with just the right amount of warmth, love and justice." Whether it's the changes or a natural maturing process, something good has happened to BAND OF SPICE. The songs on "Economic Dancers" have better flow, better playing, and an overall joyous energy running threw them.

BAND OF SPICE is described in Scarlet Records' website as a Stoner Rock band. In my opinion it does little to no justice as they skillfully blend Southern rock, a Springsteen 90' era sound, a touch of punk and serve it with Classic Rock topping. Spice's guitar playing is passionate, the rhythm section is thunderous, and The HULK's piano knows exactly when to sing and when to shut up. My only disappointment was Spice's choice to almost not use at all his clean singing style. Going for his Kevin Dubrow-sounding shouts 95% of the album's running time, he missed out on a chance to make his singing more interesting and dynamic.