I can't get over how well the cover art for this album matches its sound. It's ridiculous. Which is fine because Pearls & Bones's Cool Uncles is a ridiculous album. I don't think this is an assessment that the band would object to either. I think they through themselves into this album like a depressed gopher launching itself into the gnashing, motorized scimitar of an overturned lawnmower. It's a bit of a mess, but an enthusiastic one- which makes up for a lot.
Like an idiosyncratic buffoon whose poorly planned misadventures the underdeveloped parts of your cerebellum are oddly drawn to, the thee member hip hop group's irresponsible collapse of themes, genres, and styles is something that comes so natural to them it's scary. I really don't think they can stop themselves from careening through every socially imposed barrier that exists to maintain the borders of genre delineation on Cool Uncles. The walls erected between metal, punk, rap, house, and radio-ready pop music might as well be yield signs with how they bust through them with genuine aplomb. They are The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down of alternative music.
Ask yourself, can auto-tuned Oliver Sykes-styled pop vocals coexist in a microwaved pressure chamber with Lenny Kravitz-esque cloud-cleaving guitars and atmospherics siphoned off Make Yourself? If not, then you'd be arguing against the very existence of opener "400 Sq. Ft." Which I assure you, does exist, and does, in fact, rule! Can trailer-park truncated Slug (Sean Daley) styled flows and lyrics stay grounded when pumped up by Pleasure Principle-esque synths and space disco sound effects? "Bodega TV" seems to prove that they can. What would it sound like if Quelle Chris produced a metalcore track? Maybe something like the beefy, drop-groove-laden "Murakami Grin" which boasts a guest feature from the deep-voiced Rich Garvey, who delivers a damn credible verse over a refracted tremolo and some tasty icy synths. "Morph Suit" sounds like a Busdriver and Tobacco collab, and if you ever wondered what it might sound like if Fred Durst embarked on a cross-country backpack rap tour, then let "Fulla Gauze" sate your curiosity.
No rules. No bedtimes. Only one based joint after another. Have a hot fudge sundae for dinner and enjoy Cool Uncles until you either pass out from sugar shock or exhaustion, or both. While your parents, social media buzzkills, and the scene police are out, Pearls and Bones are fully in charge.
