Sweatshop Union

Canadian collective — some might even say supergroup —Sweatshop Union drop another group effort, and on Infinite, they continue to experiment with the harder sounds they introduced on their award-winning Bill Murray EP and embraced on Pigeon Hole's recent sophomore album, Chimp Blood. The greater use of heavy drums and low-end synths, along with the influence of current electronic and urban music in the production, is a welcome direction that adds edge to their social and political lyrics. And it certainly doesn't hurt their few moments of braggadocio, as on the grinding "Feed," with Snak the Ripper and Def 3, "Leisure Gang" or even the spacey, aquatic "King of the Beach." The mellower side of Sweatshop Union still pops up when a mood of personal introspection is required, as on "Time Granted," "Love" and the titular first single. Infinite is a fun album that celebrates life and love with a nice mix of mellow reflections, aggressive anthems and experimentation with electronic music. Hopefully Sweatshop Union continue to explore this direction, at least for the immediate future.