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The Cool Kids Look Good
By Tara Muldoon
Refreshingly modern, yet reminiscent of ’80s hip-hop, the Cool Kids have found a sound that’s completely their own. Dubbed the poster children of retro-rap, the collective of two are multi-talented lyricists and producers bringing BMX bikes and rope chains to the forefront.
As a twist of fate, their biography begins with an internet connection. Both Chuck Inglish, 23, and Mikey Rocks, 19, were posting work-in-progress on MySpace. Both from the Chicago area, they met up and discovered common influences (Outkast and Gorillaz) and a shared flare for fashion. They quickly signed with Fool’s Gold, an indie label founded by Montreal DJ A-Trak, but the Cool Kids weren’t getting enough attention. “When your boss is on tour with Kanye West, it’s easy to have timelines missed,” says Chuck.
Now signed with Chocolate Industries, the guys are handling a lot of their own business and are much happier. “We've had a lot of success — doing a track with Lil Wayne, selling out shows, collaborating with artists we've looked up to. It's a good situation.”
While they refuse to lock themselves into a genre — “Honestly, we’re just dope music!” is Chuck’s answer — their fan base ranges from retro to hip-hop.
“We're a whole package of fashion and music, and we're not very easily influenced.” But they an influence on their peers; their standout track is called “Black Mags,” a tribute to biking, while pagers and Nikes are also favoured topics.
Their current buzz has been built almost entirely on a year’s worth of touring; their debut EP, The Bake Sale, is only now getting released, but even that hasn’t diminished their enthusiasm. “We're just excited,” Chuck says. “Every day is something new. We don't know if the popularity will last, but we're definitely going to be around for a long, long time.”
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Gonzales, International Man of Mystery
 Success does not define an artist; failure does. Instead of moving from one triumph after another, the ability to bounce back from a faceplant — and to be able to laugh about it — is a much greater artistic feat.
The man who calls himself Gonzales thrives on this trajectory. For a guy who h...Read More
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Carpenter and the Cougar
 “Mid-’90s hardcore is the music that changed our lives,” says Daniel Sioui, guitarist and vocalist for Vancouver’s Carpenter. “So I remember talking to friends when this band started and telling them that John Cougar was my biggest influence at the time, and they would stare at me in disbelief. Or t...Read More
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Lal Face Deportation
 As the music industry carries on convulsing and bloodletting at its presently dissipating margin lines while gallons of ink is spilled pronouncing its apocalyptic demise, it gets harder and harder to view music as anything but another consumable product created to turn a buck. Fortunately, you’ll st...Read More
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Feuermusik Are Winners
 Don’t call Feuermusik a novelty band. Their new album, No Contest, proves that the sax and plastic bucket assault of 2006’s Goodbye Lucille was no serendipitous one-off. Reed player Jeremy Strachan and buckateer Gus Weinkauf have progressed even further with their lush saxscapes and sy...Read More
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The Mole Loves To Dig
For anyone who’s seen a room fall under the spell of the Mole, it’s no surprise that his long-awaited debut As High As the Sky (on Mathew Jonson’s Wagon Repair label) is as good as it is. Colin de la Plante, the master sampler behind the Mole, has had long enough to rise to the occasion.Read More
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Zaki Ibrahim On Her Own
The word is out on Toronto-based rising star Zaki Ibrahim, capturing well-tuned ears with her combination of captivating personality, powerful voice and ambitious outpouring of R&B, hip-hop, electronic and South African influences. But while the threat of buzz overkill would be a serious issue for...Read More
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Before the release of 2009's Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear stood at a career watershed of sorts. Critical darlings without much mainstream success, they could very well have continued in the direction set with 2007's Friend EP and become perennial indie overachievers, in the vein of the Li...
Full Review
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In an interesting twist of Hollywood fate, Chris and Paul Weitz have entered the final stretch of 2009 each in control of a major vampire franchise built from the pages of popular young adult fiction.
From one half of the brotherly team who brought us American Pie and About ...
Full Review
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