"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! - Douglas Sloan
"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! - Steve 'Flash' Juon
"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 bail 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 "ElectricChicken", 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. - Ray Paradis
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, bail 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. - Rev. Keith W. Harris
"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 |
