The Bake Sale [Digipak]

Spin (p.92) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Inspired by golden-age hip-hop, the twosome fashion themselves as 21st-century Slick Ricks..." Alternative Press (p.174) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "Balancing a DIY mentality with a good ear for catchy hooks, the Cool Kids have the ability to please both sides of the fence -- which is exactly what the hip-hop world needs." Q (Magazine) (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Their debut is a smart, skilfully executed mix of old-school beats, tag-team rhyming schemes and the current trend for Timbaland/Neptunes-style electronics." Blender (Magazine) (p.88) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[M]usic that is excitingly in and out of time. The beats are minimalist marvels of negative space, a bit like the Neptunes covering Run-DMC on a budget..." Paste (magazine) (p.57) - "The Cool Kids stay positive, reveling in their love of all things old-school as they drop references to Sega, STAR WARS, pagers...[and] BMX bikes..." Clash (Magazine) (p.117) - "Crisply produced and brimming with hooks, it succeeds in satisfying any notion of hardcore whilst ensuring it can be readily labeled pop in its least pejorative sense....The most listenable and concise hip-hop album you'll hear all year."

Despite reams of online hype and commercial anticipation, the release of the Cool Kids' debut EP still radiated sonic excitement, a blast at once sharp, funny, and intimate. Here, after all, is a triumph of absolute aestheticism. The name fulfills itself, not just in that these kids do seem pretty cool (all 16-bit name-drops and shoe talk), but because musically each moment -- each immaculately chosen drum hit, each spare sci-fi sonic embellishment, each depth-charge punch line -- is precision-placed for maximum efficacy. Which is to say, though the point may be a bit moot, maximum coolness. This is a production exhibition first and foremost, and in that regard the EP's success is absolute, from the Clipse-via-Beastie Boys crush of "88" to the Fannypack bounce of "Bassment Party" to the indescribably fresh "What Up Man," which might contain the funniest idea in post-millennial hip-hop this side of Lil Wayne's flow. The Cool Kids recast mainstream hip-hop as a medium of geeked-out self-reflexivity, which isn't a viewpoint that's been handled rewardingly since the Native Tongues' loopy, album-centric heyday. But instead of lamenting the genre's artistic erosion lyrically (like the pedantic Talib Kweli), they infuse their music with the spirit of that time and prove through example how the golden age sound earned its name. Still, the best part of this release isn't the sainted artists it recalls, alternately EPMD, DJ Premier, and the Bomb Squad. Like the Ramones way before them, this revivalism isn't for the nostalgic or the academic. It's for -- well, there's that name again. ~ Clayton Purdom

ブルズのロゴをパクったアートワークでわかるように、シカゴから颯爽と現れたニュー・アクト!　チョコレート・インダストリーズのイメージとは少し異なるハイフィーを意識したミニマル・ビートに、トラップ～スナップ以降のルーズさを備えたマイク捌きのコンビネーションはベイエリアのパックあたりを連想させたりもするフレッシュなものだ。10曲入り、なれどまだEP扱いのようで、俄然フル・アルバムに期待したくなる!　
bounce (C)狛犬