When Fish Ride Bicycles

The kinetic, mini-funk monster "Swimsuits" with Mayer Hawthorne puts it over the top, making the long wait forgivable and the album highly recommendable.

The Cool Kids don't want people debating over the underlying message of every song, picking apart and arguing over every little lyric. Rather, the duo wants listeners to simply sit back and enjoy the ride, and those who do so will almost certainly not be disappointed with the often quirky rhymes and unique production from Chuck and Mikey.

When Fish Ride Bicycles is an energetic and fun summer album with lots of warm-weather references and car talk.

Overall, When Fish Ride Bicycles won't convert any naysayers, but for both fans and those new to the group, this is a tightly-crafted showcase for the unique sound and style of The Cool Kids.

Nothing more than Inglish's beats and Rocks' rapping are needed to prove that When Fish Ride Bicycles was worth the wait.

Some could argue that the Cool Kids abandoned their original minimalism on When Fish Ride Bicycles. However, they've contemporized their old-school influences for a wider audience. By incorporating both well-known names and lesser-known artists, the Cool Kids are finally in a position to get major exposure.

Despite waiting four years since getting noticed, their throwback beats and rhymes still hit things right throughout their LP debut, When Fish Ride Bicycles.

The surprises of When Fish Ride Bicycles are more subtle than a title like that may suggest, and the influence of Pharrell on the final production even moreso.

When Fish Ride Bicycles may pay homage to Chicago summers, but this duo rarely break a sweat, rhyming in dulcet tones about designer sneaks and tricked-out GMCs.

There's a fine line between consistency and monotony, so while The Cool Kids' style can, over the course of a project, begin to feel like a drone, these bursts of change keep When Fish Ride feeling fresh.

If the Cool Kids aren't quite as buzzy as they once were, their skills are tighter than ever.

Despite losing the laser-like focus of their earlier mixtapes, When Fish Ride Bicycles is a fun, well-made album that brings several welcome additions to their catalogue

The Cool Kids have now proven that they can make an album, but they haven't proven that they ever needed to make an album.

When Fish Ride Bicycles doesn't have the same old-school shine to it. Instead it feels caught between a few different directions, as personified by its guest list: Travis Barker, Asher Roth, Bun B, and the irreducible Ghostface Killah. But even with the help, none of the tracks stretch particularly far from the Cool Kids' limited palette.