PRESS
- Press reviews of “AS IS”
- Press reviews of “FOR SALE”
- Press reviews of “TRAILMIX”
Press Reviews of “AS IS“
Matt Jost, www.RapReviews.com, January 5, 2010:
TYPE 4, I don’t know if you heard of them. No scratch that, I’m convinced you haven’t, unless by some freak accident you actually have or are so intimately familiar with our publication that you remember our review from a month back. TYPE 4 existed long before the latest rap generation ever picked up a mic. Originally a hip-hop duo in the early ’90s, the outfit soon evolved into a full-fledged band that incorporated funk, rock and reggae influences. As they prepare to release a new album in 2010, they sent us their older material for review. “As Is” was released in 2008, 7 years after their second longplayer, “For Sale.”
The press sheet credits their current DJ DayLate for injecting new life into the band. In terms of exposure, TYPE 4 settle in an environment where such projects are usually a mere stopover in a musician’s career. If people decided to revive the project, they must have seen something in it, musically, commercially, or otherwise. As a newcomer to TYPE 4, I can’t say what it is that convinced vocalist Tom Williams, producer Matt Reyes and their new deejaying partner Bill Ierardi to get TYPE 4 going. What’s clear is that its core members, Tom and Matt, have a lot of emotional investment in it, with two band members passing away at the beginning of the millennium. Additionally, Matt Reyes can claim to be a vital contributor to the Boston area rap scene.
Based in Dedham and Medford, MA, Reyes, originally known as DJ Spin, has been in groups such as White Magic, The Diamond 2, COD Crew and Kingsmythe, and, more importantly, running a recording facility that operates under the name World One since the mid-’80s, producing and working with local acts such as Tuff Enuff Crew, Justice CDC, Maine T, Poetic Soldiers, Act 1/Squeeze, D.Scribe, T-Ruckus, Rip-Shop, The sHaPeShIfTeRs, Groove Goddess, Raw Field, Phi Crew Committee, Akrobatik, 7L & Esoteric, Nabo Rawk, etc. His tracks received airplay as early as 1986 on Boston’s then only rap show, Lecco’s Lemma. In 1992 he joined TYPE 4, where he became responsible for sampling, keys and arrangements. With Williams rapping since the early ’90s, TYPE 4 combine a heap of experience.
I have an almost unlimited amount of sympathy for such a backstory. TYPE 4 represent the early suburban/small-town rap demographic who tried to come up with a version of hip-hop that fit their own life experiences. It’s easy to understand where TYPE 4 are coming from. What’s not quite as easy to understand is why “As Is” sounds 15 years older than it is. I could say I have to dig deep into my collection to find a record similar to “As Is,” but even if I had such a record, I probably couldn’t remember it because the lasting impressions from that time were left by too many classic rap acts to name. The music of TYPE 4 predates most commercially successful rap/rock mash-ups you may remember from the ’90s, such as Limp Bizkit or 311. To compare them to late ’80s/early ’90s crossover bands such as Fishbone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, Faith No More, Rage Against the Machine, Limbomaniacs, or 24-7 Spyz would not quite nail it either.
“As Is” is a parochial interpretation of rap and rock. It is dudes jamming together. Circa 1990. At least that’s how it sounds. That’s not to say that the music isn’t enjoyable or interesting, in fact it often is, but if aspiring rap and rock require a sonic identity, “As Is” is nothing more than a uncomplicated first encounter of both genres. Of the many rap samples on this disc not one was recorded after 1990. Rapper Tom Williams sounds like a younger version of Mike D without the Beastie Boy’s rap flavor and rock attitude. It is the very opposite of a voice that has matured as the years went by. The whole thing is completely perplexing.
What makes “As Is” ultimately work is that taken as a time capsule, it makes absolutely sense. The trio comes across as guys who really love rap but don’t consider it necessary to follow hip-hop stereotypes (particularly post-’80s trends). From the unique opening “Beat” collage to the fictional Schoolly D feature “Get So Cool,” TYPE 4 radiate the vibe of a crew that does whatever the hell it wants, unfettered by sample clearance issues, market research studies and the possibility of Rick Rubin producing their next album. And on the mike, Tom Williams unleashes his slacker-meets-rapper philosophy. He’s “pickin’ lint off the nickels to buy a pack of smoke.” He’s got “rhymes for the kiddies and loads for the bitches.” He doesn’t “wanna go outside and deal with the dickheads.” He’s got “a mouth full of cavities, a brain full of damage.” He’s “the shitbag your mom don’t want you with.” He’s “doper than most dicks who got a record deal.”
This is not the surreal beat poetry rap of Beck’s “Loser,” it’s straightforward old school brags and put-downs mixed with self-deprecating teenage sarcasm. And this is where “As Is” actually benefits from being such a throwback, because in TYPE 4′s world emo never happened, so that Williams always finds a reason to be optimistic, often coming to the conclusion that music is his savior. Underpinned by a kick-ass track (featuring drums laid down by deceased drummer Eric Goodridge), “Scatterbrains” is a pretty good representation of “As Is” as a whole:
“Sometimes I sit around and I drink
Beats gotta pound, pussy gotta be pink
I don’t give a flyin’ fuck what y’all think
I’m so broke, I just can’t cope
Feel like hoppin’ a bridge or hangin’ a rope
I got scatterbrains and a pocket of hope
I got the locals on my jock if the vocals are dope
[...]
I can stick to the plan, rock a rhyme a day
or I can smack it up and piss my life away
Either way I’ll be me, I’ll be Tom, I’ll be here
sportin’ shirts that an old fuckin’ man wouldn’t wear
[...]
I’m a dirt bomb tickin’ towards an early grave
indebted to life, to the beat I’m a slave
Livin’ in two worlds, one’s bad, one’s worse
It’s like havin’ these rap skills is havin’ a curse
But pound for pound TYPE 4 CDs
are worth more than 80 milligram OC’s
Peace pills are cool, but the shit fades away
but a TYPE 4 CD can rock all day”
It’s that “I keep my head in the clouds and my sneakers on the ground” attitude that makes Williams a relatable persona. Many (if not most) songs here deal with the same topics of smokes, chicks and rap. “Blame it on Tom” is a cheerful pop tune that perfectly exemplifies the notion that “the lows, the frowns, the get-me-downs / they fly out the window when the rap beat pounds.” “When the Beats Pound” is more of the same at a slower pace. Strings make “HMI” sound slightly more contemporary, while the rapper explains his rap-over-drugs motto: “Great music’s dope, talkin’ pound for pound / tried all the drugs, the only one I found / that’s true to the core when the big beats pound / keeps me up in the clouds instead of under the ground.”
One can make an interesting comparison to Minneapolis’ indie darlings Atmosphere. A couple of years ago they recorded a faithful interpretation of Kool G Rap & DJ Polo’s “Road to the Riches,” chronicling their come-up in the rap game. TYPE 4 pay tribute to the song as well with “Road,” but unlike Atmosphere’s rapper Slug Tom Williams has remained the amateur appropriating rap as a means to let off steam, in his very own way living up to the Kool G Rap template, talking about “you two-faced, ratty-ass, shit-talkin’ suckers / straight to hell with all you fake motherfuckers (…) sure as 7-Eleven’s got Slurpees / your sister got a big mouth, fake tits and herpes.”
To Williams’ credit, the longer “As Is” lasts, the more he gets philosophical, even on a song like “Road,” where he feels “one with the sun and a bag of bad habits / I can see the light but I just can’t grab it.” The thoughtful tone is echoed musically by songs like “IV” and “Sad Song,” both also lyrically featuring more somber reflections on drugs and death. While “Bag O’Bellybuttons” and “Piss Poor” dare to leave the early ’90s behind with an inspired dark boom bap backdrop and sinister, spaced out funk, respectively. “One More” finally is a dense, rock-heavy tune that adds credence to the MC’s Beantown braggadocio:
“Rippin’ hits like Carlton Fisk in ’75
because I’m raw to the bone and rockin’ Boston pride
I need a booty round-romp and a rack that’s real
you keep your skinny, underfed-lookin’ Ally McBeal
Dance to Scally Cap tracks, new Cool Kid stylee
and keep my hair slicked back like Pat Riley
The raw deal, for real, no phoney, an
old school bad guy, cool Bostonian”
So what’s my verdict on the TYPE 4 line-up as it exists since 2005? While not an actual band anymore, Matt Reyes still manages to make them sound like one. In Tom Williams they have a dominant vocalist who possesses a functional flow that is definitely not an embarrassment to them, but who also often writes rhymes that are as simplistic as they are dated. They mostly fail to pen real songs, but they still very clearly get across what they’re about. They have a knack for melodies and often come extremely close to a successful pop song format, but are ultimately musically too unfocused to ever score a hit. I applaud them for making such layered music with plenty of quotes and samples but miss the aspiration to create something more timeless. “As Is” is both unpolitical rebel music for college kids and an interesting suburban rap document. In short, I’m undecided, which isn’t the worst verdict to return with.
Music Vibes: 7.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10
Originally posted: January 5, 2010
Douglas Sloan, “Metronome,” July 2005:
TYPE 4 twists urban hip-hop around the threads of funk, rock and rap to deliver a refreshingly original sound on their new album, “Use Once And Destroy” [a promotional pre-release featuring tracks from "As Is"]. Infectious rhythms, recycling drum tracks, cool vocals and chunky guitar riffs sound like something the Beastie Boys would have recorded before they sold out to corporate America. Singer Tom Williams has the perfect vocal articulation and diction for these originals while his musical mates Matt Reyes on keys and vocals and DJ DayLate on turntables grapple with the rhythms. The outcome is a very funky, danceable block of tuneage that sticks with you like a wad of Bazooka. The radio edits have a little more oomph than their MP3 partners but no matter what format you spin, TYPE 4 will deliver the goods… straight up!
Press Reviews of “FOR SALE“
Steve ‘Flash’ Juon, www.RapReviews.com, December 1, 2009:
A long time ago, in a funky-ass dorm room far far away, I was a contributing writer for a short-lived E-zine called 181.4 Degrees From the Norm! The editor was a friend of mine and fellow college radio DJ named Dave. I’m a little vague on how he came up with the name 181.4, but I believe it involved adding up the frequencies of his two favorite alternative radio stations back home. Yes – alternative – but somehow a lot of what they got sent free for review was hip-hop. That’s where I came in – not only did Dave know me as a DJ but he knew I had experience writing reviews from two E-zines of my own dating all the way back to 1992. We worked out a promotional exchange where I’d cover whatever rap albums he was sent provided we linked to each other’s sites and I had the right to reprint them in my own E-zine. He readily agreed and we got to work, and for a while it was fun for everyone involved, but in time I think Dave got dismayed by the lack of headway he made creating an online presence and decided to fold his magazine and move on (good thing I retained the rights to my stuff). The site he owned is now parked by someone milking what little hits it gets with shopping links.
It’s probably been a decade or more since I heard from Dave, and these days 181.4 is a minor footnote in my writing career, but at least one person out there didn’t forget those days – Matt Reyes from Type 4. It seems the review I wrote of their debut album for Dave’s internet rag was one of the most thoughtful, considerate and well written Type 4 received. After all these years, Matt tracked me down and asked me if I was the same man who reviewed rap for 181.4. It took me a minute to realize I actually was, because it had been that long since any thought of 181.4 crossed my mind, but Matt felt that after all this time I was the only one qualified to reintroduce Type 4 to the world. Tragically a lot of things have changed for Type 4 in the last decade or more – they lost vocalist Brian Cantwell in 2001 and drummer Eric Goodridge in 2002. As odd as it is to walk down memory lane back to my college days, it’s even more odd to write a review of an album released in 2001 when a third of the band is now deceased – there needs to be a whole new definition of “late pass” for this one. Nevertheless if I’m as qualified to review Type 4 in 2009 as Matt thinks, there’s no way I can write about their new shit if I don’t go back and cover the material that I missed in the interim.
“For Sale” is 21 tracks long. Besides the R.I.P. band members already mentioned, the musicians contributing to this project include Ray Bly on bass, Mike Haas on guitar, Charlie Murphy on turntables, Tom Williams on vocals, Mike O’Leary on additional drums and Matt Reyes provides keyboards and samples. If you’re getting the idea that Type 4 is on a Flobots/The Roots/Stetsasonic type vibe, you’d be absolutely right. So why hasn’t Type 4 blown up to the same degree? One could say it’s the fact Type 4 lost focus when two of their members passed away, but one could also say it’s much like what happened to 181.4 DFtN – sometimes you can put your heart into your work and get so little back in return from the public that you question the value of doing it at all. It’s not hard to understand that Type 4 may have felt that way in 2001 when this album was released. After all it takes a lot of time and effort to record 21 songs as a live band, especially if you’re creating shit you want people to jam to, as opposed to just talentless noodling. There’s no question that Type 4 was an undiscovered diamond in the rough when you listen to “For Sale.” The “Whiskey Sour Wiggle” embraces an unapologetically 1980′s Beastie Boys influence, and Bly’s bass compares favorably to any other hip-hop band you’ve ever heard. “Dopesickest” goes back six decades further, sounding like the whimsical backdrop to a Charlie Chaplin film, until the heavy drums and hard lyrics come in – lyrics which show just how eager Type 4 were to succeed:
“So don’t compromise or change your beliefs
You got shit to say, get up and be brief
You can release your grief, just speak your piece and jet
Do whatever you have to, while catchin threats
And you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll make you scream and holla
Cause I fought and clawed my way up from a life of pain and squalor
I’m that, hip roller livin out of control-a
And know I sold my soul for hip-hop and rock’n'roll-a
I’ll be a household name, like Crayola or Coca-Cola
I’m that funky rap flower who killed that ass like ebola”
One of the other things that may have prohibited Type 4 from getting larger is that these songs are not cut down to typical radio airplay lengths. Most songs on “For Sale” are longer than four minutes, and two crack the five minute mark. “Beanbag” is among the shortest but the drug references and samples would have made it a hard sell – then again D12 did manage to get a heavily edited version of “Purple Pills” into rotation. “Heroin Bunny” though would have no chance just on the title alone. Wait a minute – do I discern a heavy drug influence to Type 4 on this CD? I don’t remember if that was the case on the first album I reviewed, but when Matt says they lost two band members in 2001 and 2002 I start to wonder… HOW did they lose these members? Was it car accidents, natural causes, or something far more Layne Staley-esque? I have no idea and the press sheet offers no explanation, so there’s no reason to speculate further.
Suffice it to say whatever I liked about Type 4 the first time around is still in effect on “For Sale” before whatever unfortunate events in their world prevailed. From the funky keys, hard drums and appropriate samples of “Formula 4″ to the experimental and admittedly odd album closer “XISANC” there’s a lot to take in the first time around and possibly the harshest criticism I can offer is that there’s just too much here for anybody exposed to them for the first time. Some shorter songs perhaps, or half as many tracks, and a little more focus on what message they wanted to deliver wouldn’t have hurt this CD. It’s hard to tell if Type 4′s goal is to be lyrical, political, self-abusive or constructive as the rhymes show an underlying intelligence but don’t convey any real message other than “we love being a live rap band.” That’s great, but give people more to sink their teeth into. Sadly that may not even be possible as Matt’s letter indicates the years to come after they lost two members were a “dark time” so the next album I review probably won’t be as fun as this one. It’s good to know some part of Type 4 is still out there kicking it though – and it makes me wonder whatever happened to my old friend Dave.
Music Vibes: 7 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 6.5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 7 of 10
Originally posted: December 1, 2009
Press Reviews of “TRAILMIX“
Douglas Sloan, “Metronome,” November 1997:
Six kids from the streets of Medford are laying down white boy rap like you’ve never heard. They run the gamut of emotion from angry to funny to wild and beyond, and keep the beat rollin’ around your head like a loose marble. They’ve got a whole lot of music to share with you so what are you waiting for? Check this out!
Steve ‘Flash’ Juon, “181.4 Degrees from the Norm,” February 1998:
When you bill yourself as “Northeast Atlantic pornographic superhero druggie themefunk” you’ve got a LOT to live up to; at once you are trying to encompass the spirit of Woodstock, the rebelliousness of New York’s best MC’s, the raunchy flavor of Akinyele, and the blunted insanity of Cypress Hill. Expecting Type 4 to live up to all these expectations would be a mistake, but expecting them to be wack would be as well. “Touch the Hog” starts the album off nicely with a heavy beat, clever rhymes, and good sample usage that pairs off Schoolly D saying, “How the fuck does he get so cool” against KRS-One chanting, “I pull about a G a week, fuck school!” When you move suddenly into “Dishrag,” you’re assaulted by a heavy audio reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine mixed with the playful lyricism of an pre-Tibetan Freedom Concert-Beastie Boys. The result is quite listenable for the open minded but may be a little too hardrocking for hip-hop b-boy purists, although Brian Cantwell has the hip-hop nihilism locked down with attitude like, “I don’t give a fuck if I die so don’t help me” that in some ways sounds oddly more convincing than much of Tupac’s blustery bravado. In an overcrowded market of records, it’s hard to convince people that an unheard of group from an unheard of label can actually be both punk rock and hip-hop at the same time when coming from kids who self-deprecate themselves as “punk white trash,” but on songs like “Of Course!” they do indeed live up to their billing as druggie heroes with a song that would make Cypress Hill proud and their billing as superheroes on songs like “Carpe Diem.” They even show off some hip-hop chops with “Catcher in the Rhyme” and challenge you to label them as wack. I’m forced to admit I can’t. These white boys can FUNK. It’s a weeded, beer soaked, KRS-One sample laden hip-hop mainfesto stating that independent white Massachusetts rap CAN rock. Bravo!
Ray Paradis, “The Noise,” March 1998:
Adding to the ever-growing hip-hop rock and roll scene of music is Type 4: one part rap masters with attitude, two parts heavy metal with sack, and one part chronic kings. When they got together over eight years ago, initially they did all rap songs and had a pretty big following in the rap scene. But eventually, like all good music, everything has to evolve and grow. So too did Type 4. Originally starting with just a few samplers and a drum machine, pioneers Brian Cantwell and Tom Williams wanted to expand their horizons, and soon they acquired Matt Reyes on keyboard, guitarist Mike Haas, drummer Eric Goodridge, and Charlie Murphy as their new DJ. With this new radical lineup, they began moving down a better path that has opened new dreams and aspirations. After putting out numerous songs on cassette and vinyl, they reached notoriety by releasing their first CD featuring some new and old tracks. Rapping with all their heart and soul, Type 4 prove that they are, without a doubt, the phat, fresh funkmasters of song. Although the musical styles vary, they’re mostly about pot, like “Wikkid Stoopid” with its funky scratchmatics and “Berntawringe” with its wikkid sounds, or Phil Donahue from “Of Course!”: “Pot, uh… Now we agree that we don’t want to send a kid with a roach in his pocket to jail… But after that it gets a little complicated; can you grow it, can you sell it, can you bale it, can you package it…” Other songs make good use of samples, utilizing everything from Tom And Jerry cartoons to sound bytes from Star Trek. Mumbo jumbo is how to describe track 9 “Electric Chicken”, a super hip-hop hero remix that makes an old song sound new again. It’s totally da bomb! They even take old-fashioned beatboxing and appropriate it to new heights with “Goin’ Off 4 The Kids” and “Punk Smackin`”. There are so many good songs on the CD there’s not enough space here to write about them, so go check out this tasty musical nugget from those self-professed “hip-hop / electro / rock / funk / reggae mixers”, or see them at a local rave near you.
Rev. Keith W. Harris, “Northeast Performer,” April 1998:
It’s been a while since I actually sat down and listened to rap, as my interest in recent years has run the gauntlet of drug-induced guitar frenzies and powerful percussive onslaughts. After the super-violent mania that exploded from California’s Compton area around the turn of the decade, things burned out quickly and the bad-ass gun-toting cop killers soon lost their dynamic charisma for me. But being from the East Coast, born and bred, I was always a little more attracted to the New York stylings of EPMD, Public Enemy, BDP, and of course the Beastie Boys – having more of a leisurely laid-back style and displaying less of the frenetic violence that grew to be the essence of West Coast rap. But I digress… Type 4 is of this East cost variety of rap, and although I am hesitant to say this, their stylings are similar to the Beastie Boys, with some real intricate and creative rhymes full of fun-loving, dope-smoking, beer-drinking hipster lyrics. Type 4 was developed originally in 1990 by frontmen Brian Cantwell and Tom Williams, using only samples and drum machines in their early years. Since then, they have developed into a full-force eight member unit, adding keyboardist / programmer Matt Reyes, guitarist Mike Haas, bassist Ray Bly, drummer Mike O’Leary, percussionist Eric Goodridge and Charles “DJ KooKoo” Murphy on turntables, all of whom add a live-instrument sound to the samples and mixes, melding hip-hop with a substantial amount of rock-n-roll to create a real large and busy sound. The entire album, in fact, with all the samples, scratching and whining guitar, is an audio playground giving ample exercise for the ears. Not to mention the sheer size of this album – eighteen full tracks and seventy-four minutes long! Type 4 is openly pro-cannabis (being a holy man, I must support their beliefs), and it is the subject of many of their tunes, including one of their finest, “Of Course!”, which contains an awesome sample of Phil Donahue repeating: “Grow it, sell it, bale it, package it…” Rich, creative samples like this give Trailmix that extra little something and add to the individual personality of Type 4. “Berntawringe” shows off the fine musical aspects of this band with the cutting guitar, thumping bass and slamming drums taking precedence over the digitally augmented effects, and “Punk Smackin’”, a track recorded from a radio show, features a very raw-bones funky, bad-ass verbal assault set primarily to an old-school human beatbox. Type 4 has successfully re-interested me into rap, not only for the music, but for the production and engineering quality of the samples, effects and live instruments. All this with utmost recording and mixing professionalism – brought on and developed by World One – makes Trailmix one hell of an album.
Matt Howarth, “Those Annoying Post Brothers,” #59:
Type 4 claim to be “Northeast Atlantic Pornographic Superhero Druggie Themefunk”. That’s an ambitious start. The music on this 74 minute release is a brutal mix of hip-hop, industrial, rock, and angry funk. A drum platform supports wickedly growling guitar, double rap vocals with a particularly odd assortment of samples and riffs, bubbling with snarling, sequencing, scratching, and sneaky keyboards. Songs like “Shoefunk And Spam”, “Punk Smackin’”, and “Catcher In The Rhyme” deliver solid tuneage raspingly wrought with thrashing testosterone and rich sarcasm. Although I’m not generally into rap, this bands smirking outlook captured my attention with their clever hooks. I recommend you check out their sense of antisocial humor. – Matt Howarth