Sir Michael Rocks (formerly Mikey Rocks) and Chuck Inglish, better known as The Cool Kids have been on the scene since 2007. The duo met in 2005 through Myspace and through the release of various mixtapes and singles forged their own sound. In gaining fans and building their buzz, the group even made it into popular culture, gaining endorsement from Mountain Dew and having their track “Bassment Party” featured on HBO’s Entourage. With When Fish Ride Bicycles, the group continues to build their legacy .

Chuck and Mike created a nice buzz with their 2008 EP The Bake Sale and followed it up with the successful mixtape collaboration with DJ Don Cannon known as Gone Fishing. Both releases helped to craft the groups sound and build a fan base but in recent years the duo has been ghost, being featured more on guest appearances and with the super group Pulled Over By the Cops. When Fish Ride Bicycles has been talked about since 2008 and comes out at a time where the group’s buzz is much smaller than it was.

When Fish Ride Bicycles is one of those albums that leaves listeners scratching their heads. It’s hard to determine if the group has fallen off or if listeners have just plain outgrown the music. Production wise, the album is stale and lacks punch. Tracks such as; “Boomin” and “Penny Hardaway” (feat. Ghostface) are nice but on a better album would only be okay. “Gas Station” (feat Bun B) is disappointing, and the posse cut, “Roll Call” (feat. Asher Roth, Chip Tha Ripper and Boldy James) is decent, but is again lacking. Sadly, this is a recurring theme on the album as there are really no tracks that blow the listener away or for that matter, really catch the listener’s ear. By far, “Sour Apples” (feat. Travis Barker), is the albums best track, mainly because of the bouncy production. The track specifically is more of a representative of the Cool Kids sound we are all familiar with. This could be interpreted as hating on a more experimental sound, but that’s just not the case, as the album just flat out fails to go for the gusto.

Eleven tracks deep and 40 minutes long, When Fish Ride Bicycles is a definite short-player. Unfortunately, that description also fits the album’s content. Overall, the release is disappointing and comes across as if the duo just put out the album to do it. The majority of the tracks are forgettable and the album as a whole very unlike the group’s previous releases, which featured tracks that stayed in rotation. While When Fish Ride Bicycles is worth checking out, in terms of long-term playability, it doesn’t pass the test.