More, Resin Dogs’ third album, hit the shelves in 2007 and marked the band’s tenth year on the local scene. Despite some occasionally underwhelming lyricism, it was bolstered by solid production and marked a shift away from provincial Aussie hip-hop and into more sophisticated and well rounded genre-busting happiness. Definition earned a fair amount of airplay and got stuck in our heads for a couple of months last year. The album was well received by the indie press and punters alike.

More or Less is a remix album of that release, and while it’s not groundbreaking in its handling of the original material, it’s certainly a fun listen and a smooth addition to your summer playlist. More featured loads of guests: Hau from labelmate Koolism and N’Fa, for example; More or Less essentially replaces all the instrumental parts with new music from a bunch of new talent that includes DJ Katch and Si Fixion. It’s not the most inventive approach to remixing you’ve ever heard but it’s safe. Right?

The best stuff here is in the new production: these guys are passable MCs with energy to burn, but they’re way more suited to the stage than the studio. Their word play occasionally achieves real artistry but mostly hovers around the pretty good mark. They sound out of breath too often for a studio release. They’re fun, but they’re outclassed by many of their contemporaries. Their biggest strength is the vibrant, fertile sound they’ve built up over the last decade.

The production, on the other hand, is fairly rich and varied. Sometimes it falls short of the mark – see Omi Anti’s derivative working of Move Up – but is often fully realised, highly polished hip-hop and funk and dub that looks past the obvious horizons of self-contained Aussie rap culture and moves toward very marketable, flexible indie crossover.

I think what the promoters would like to hear is that the album weaves through bumping summer fun and tense, urban downbeat, and while the stand out tracks – like Plutonic Lab’s mix of Coming With The Sound and the awesome Two Fresh mix of Peace N Love – are real gems, on the whole that would be a bit generous.

So if the lyric writing is no Saul Williams, the beats are chunky and the grooves are catchy and fun. It’s hardly audiophile stuff but the production is mostly really hi-fi this time round, and, more importantly, the album’s energy is contagious and should have your head bopping for most of the hour.