Vancouver’s Sweatshop Union follow up their enjoyable Bill Murray EP from last year with this summer’s Is The Leisure Gang. The title implies that there’s a concept to the EP, but the group hasn’t come forward with any insight, and the lyrics to the title track and the video don’t provide any clarity. So while the alter ego/concept to the EP is a little confusing, you can easily throw that all out the window and just treat this as another EP from the Sweatshop Union. On that level, it’s another enjoyable collection of songs from a group of six artists with great chemistry.

The EP opens with the title track, which kicks in with a high level of energy built from a tense, fuzzy and distorted synthesizer bass line and drums that stay on top of the beat, pushing everything forward. We get plenty of fun rhymes to get the EP rolling, but the song runs out of steam toward the end. “King of the Beach” gives a nice laid back feel that’s reminiscent of “John Lennon,” but lacks an interesting hook, and no one seems to be especially inspired with their verses. “Space Bears” provides a harsh, distorted, sci-fi inspired track with lots of tense energy and finds the focus that had been lacking up to this point. “NVSBL” is similar in tone, with really heavy drums and distorted bass as rhymes about paranoia and self-awareness and feeling invisible abound. It’s at this point that the EP finally reaches it’s full potential. Everything’s clicking, and you want to pump up the volume and feed off the energy. “Love” rocks a great mid tempo beat that loops like a Premier track, and the verses are really tight. The chorus comes together to deliver a hopeful message that that manages to be uplifting without being corny, and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite Sweatshop Union tracks. “L.A.M.M.” finds the crew trying their hand at some dirty south, chopped and screwed hip hop, which just doesn’t come together. The EP then closes with “We Ready,”” which is the most fun you’ll have on the record. It manages to both feels modern, with it’s dubstep wub wubs during the chorus, while also recalling a late nineties pop song, with it’s short, sung chorus and bright and sunny atmosphere.

It’s starts slow and the need for alter ego/concept isn’t really there, but the EP still delivers some great moments. Sweatshop Union have always delivered their best work when they find the right balance between being fun and silly and touching on important social issues. When they manage this on songs like on “NVSBL” or “Love,” it’s easy understand how the Canadian crew has been able to sustain their fan base for so long.