When Fish Ride Bicycles

Talk about a buildup. It's been roughly four years since the Chi-town duo of Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks (now Sir Michael Rocks if you don't mind) first hit the scene as underground hip-hop's self-anointed coolest kids on the block. 2008 brought the deliciously retro Bake Sale EP, but the Kids were disappointingly quiet in the years that followed, save for a couple of medicore mixtapes. Now signed to Mountain Dew's record label (yes, soft drinks start labels these days) and teamed with a bevy of high-profile guests, it seems it's now or never for the once self-proclaimed "new black version of the Beastie Boys." When Fish Ride Bicycles isn't exactly a bad album, but it's missing back-to-basics approach that made The Bake Sale such a breath of fresh retro air. The duo's cool wit and snappy one-liners are still satisfying ("I'm Park Place, you're Marvin Gardens") though the often-cluttered choruses don't quite pop like they should. Some of the guest spots fit (Travis Barker's production on "Sour Apples." Pharrell Williams' on "Get Right") though having Ghostface Killah on board for a verse isn't exactly flattering alongside the Kids' decidedly laid-back styles. After almost five years of shinin', the Cool Kids need to build upon their cooler-than-thou personas in order to give their careers some staying power.