dan's jams - music reviews

After a two year break and the replacement of two members, 24-7 Spyz returned with their major label debut "Strength In Numbers". While I miss both of the players that were replaced, those that stepped in do fine work work on this album. Overall, the vision of the band became more focused with this album, though some could argue it also became a little one-dimensional. Certainly, one of the strengths of "Gumbo Millenium" was it's diversity, and this album doesn't achieve that kind of diversity, though major label influence may have had something to do with that.

But what it does deliver on is consistant interesting songwriting in a field of chunky, groovy tracks. Mid-tempoed groove tunes such as "My Desire" and "Got it Goin' On" serve as the glue that holds the few diverse moments together like "Earth and Sky", a sugary-sweet ballad, and "Purple", the heaviest track on the album. "Travelling Day" is a bleary-eyed song about transition that harkens back to an older day in it's style and delivery that really works well.

This album does a good job of maintaining the groove of 24-7 Spyz and while making a first step into a larger marketplace. Ultimately, the band was mostly drowned out by the din of more visually focused bands, but the music was largely better than most of their peers.