Anyone thinking the Spam Allstars are something to do with the famous Monty Python sketch or unwanted emails are likely to be disappointed with "Introducing". There’s no John Cleese or Graham Chapman or offers to wire cash from a developing country in return for banking details. Instead you get Miami’s hardest funking Latin band, and while this may sound like a backhanded complement, a great album to learn how to salsa dance to.

1. Campanario 64
2. Gallo Pinto
3. Ochimini
4. Charanga E-350
5. El Aguafiesta
6. Afrika
7. Fiesta De Los Feos
8. The Robots' Attack
9. La Maraeda
10. Descarga Gusano
11. Una Buena Limpieza

Everything about this CD screams Miami and it would be the perfect soundtrack to a night in the great city, some cocktails, beautiful people and serious dancing. "Introducing" takes tracks from the bands three CDs - Electrodomesticos, Contra Los Roboticos Mutantes, and Fuacata Live! – and repackages them for a wider audience.

Headed up by DJ Le Spam, the band has been playing together since 1998 and are a firm fixture on Miami’s live music circuit. With the exception of a couple of tracks, all of the songs clock in at least six or seven minutes long. The mixture of Latin percussion and brass, funky backbeats and the odd turntable always works well.

Some of the tracks which really stand out are "Ochimini" and "El Aquafiesta". Some of the others do feel like prolonged Latin jam sessions, which could be a good thing or a bad thing – depending on one's tastes. Like I said, "Introducing" is ideal if you need something to dance hard and long to – like "Afrika". This music is bit classier – like wine, compared to Ozomatli's coca cola!

Nothing here is quite as in your face or as out of control as a band like Ozomatli, but like this website – this is properly chilled stuff – and guaranteed to keep the cocktail hour going long after sunset. And while this record is good, something tells me the live Spam Allstars experience is even better. Anyone with a free evening in Miami needs to visit their website and see where they are playing.

~ Jamie Hailstone

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