The Cool Kids - Tacklebox

The Cool Kids - Tacklebox

It's funny how every artist or group's 'plans' work out. Some acts never get their act together and never figure out how to put themselves in the limelight, either due to bad music or bad management decisions. Some acts find their niches, their sounds, their audience and figure out where they stand. The Cool Kids are one of those groups that have stepped into their lane and don't seem to be switching anytime soon. Chuck and Mikey teamed up with the LA Leakers to drop Tacklebox, supposedly the precursor to their rumored album, 'When Fish Ride Bicycles'. This mixtape is almost entirely produced by Chuck Inglish, so you know there are going to be a lot of bass-heavy, synth-heavy beats with non-linear rhymes from the two Midwest MC's. Like I said before, the Cool Kids have found their lane. If you've heard anything from them, you know what to expect, though this is a bit more far-out sounding than Gone Fishing. The one thing that surprised me the most was the difference in rapping styles between the two. Before, both were a similar, with Mikey showing a bit more charisma on wax. Now, it's clear who the rapper is and who the producer is. As a matter of fact, I wish I could hear a mix with just Mikey rapping over Chuck's beats. Not necessarily saying it would be better than this. It's just simple comparative advantage. Regardless of who's better than who, this is vintage Cool Kids, complete with voiceover manipulation and sounds put together that will have you nodding your head all tape long. The tape starts out much different than it ends (I liked the latter half more than the former). Check the download, #dopetracks, loosies and a video where Chuck & Mikey talk about 'Tacklebox' and 'When Fish Ride Bicycles', hopefully coming soon...

#dopetracks
Volume II
Birthdays
Great Outdoors
Good Afternoon
Parking Lot
Summer Nights

Loosies:
The Cool Kids - Flying Kites
The Cool Kids - Fishing Lessons
The Cool Kids - Freak City