Out from Under
Overlooked local CDs deserve a listen
The Boston Globe, 1/2/98
Rype, Extra Virgin (Shelley Court).
From the funk-sown ashes of Chucklehead, Chuck, Angry Salad, and Avatar Blue
comes a quartet whose understated sound conveys left-field vulnerability akin
to Ben Folds Five.
-Paul Robicheau
Rype
- Extra Virgin RYPE's new album, Extra Virgin, has ten songs. Ten solid, well-arranged, well-recorded,
this-is-how-we-sound-and-that's-it songs.
RYPE is four guys: Edon 'Funky' D; bass, Dave Ross, vocals/guitar; Troy Velazquez, drums; and Brian Gottesman,
the singing, key playing, songwriting, mixing, producing fellow who seems to be the boom on the sail of what is RYPE.
So what is RYPE? A band with their own sound. They don't sound like anybody else. Really. In a world where
it's just about close enough to impossible to not judge a band - without comparing them to somebody else - it's
just as close to impossible to find the band RYPE sounds like. From front to back, Extra Virgin weaves
through rock, jazz, pop, funk, and smooth grooves. And RYPE pulls off each style they attempt on this record, which definitely gets stronger
as the songs add up.
"Low Down," a catchy (yes, but that's OK) tune gets in your ears and stays there for a while.
From this tune on, RYPE travels on the fuel of their own momentum. "Volcano," a song about a
"10-megaton plastique time-bomb Pack-a-matches in a gas leak volcano," is just plain original.
While Velazquez keeps his chugga-lugga beat going, a wah-guitar, and in-the-pocket bass give it a familiar
groove with an unfamiliar vibe. "Red Rover," totally deserving of its sweet keys and soulful guitar, shows RYPE to be a band, in the sense that you can't tell which instrument is doing the cool
thing, 'cause it sounds like one big, unified sound.
Remember harmonies? Back in the day when all the guys in the band could hit the notes? RYPE has that.
They also have a sort of redemptive attitude. The lyrics don't say "I'm gonna get through this,"
but somehow the songs do. RYPE doesn't wallow in their pain - they show it and then they get it over with.
The last song, "Walk," does hint that the Police might have been playing when the band was getting
dressed for school, but that's all right. At least they show it. I bet a live show would do wonders for anyone who's heard this record.
If you hear RYPE's Extra Virgin, give it some time and a few listens. It's good. The front cover looks like an olive oil
can and the back looks like a guy eating fire or someone with a spike through the palm.
I can't tell which. Decide for yourself.
Northeast Performer, December 1997
Say you go into a club with no idea who's playing that night, but you're already there, so you hang around.
After a while the band comes on and after three or four songs you still can't decide if you like 'em or not. There's definitely
something there, but you can't nail it down. "What's the deal?" your brain asks. "I don't know," you answer.
Then you stop thinking and just listen. That's about the situation I had when I first heard RYPE - except I
was in my house, listening to a record. And after some mindless deliberation, a decision was made.
This record is good.
-Jabe Beyer