The Union Trade subscribe to an ethic of experimentalism, intent on creating music with a visceral impact. This attitude is reflected in their use of effects, the manipulation of instrumental sounds and feedback, changing tempos, unique song structures, and varying time signatures. The Union Trade's sound reveals the band's alternative, indie and post-rock influences such as Slint, Ride, Mineral, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, The Appleseed Cast, Longwave, and Film School. The final, perhaps defining, element of The Union Trade sound is their ability to channel this sonic ambition into carefully crafted and accessible songs with emotional immediacy.
The Union Trade's debut EP Now The Swell, released in February of 2007 on Tricycle Records, has received very positive national press in publications and blogs including Performer Magazine, Zero Magazine, Losing Today, and Just Press Play.
The Union Trade is currently completing their first full length album, to be released in 2008, and are planning a national tour.
"Lofty, sweeping chords and the deliberate, steadfast pace of the Union Trade tell the tale of a band that eschews flair and fireworks for an intricate, drawn-out listening experience in the vein of Explosions in the Sky. Critics like to lash out against post-rock wanderers for their "long-winded" and "pretentious" takes on rock, but while San Francisco's Trade perform with no shortage of confidence, they guard against swimming into melodious abstraction on their tightly composed EP Now the Swell."
