Rippin Chicken - S/T

HWF-RC #042
December 2025 ROTM
HWF-RC Exclusive Hatchling colored vinyl

Founded in late 2011, Rippin Chicken was born out of a necessity to serve the groove that was bubbling up in Seattle during a crucial time in the city's funk music history. After serving as the foundational rhythm section for Lucky Brown's Funk Revolution in the later part of the first decade, this dynamic trio was formed to further deep funk explorations with a livelier and more bombastic sound, pushing the envelope of what a traditional organ trio could be. The chemistry between Ben Bloom, Olli Klomp and Delvon Lamaar, is an undeniable force that shook Seattle like an earthquake when the band 1st jumped out on the scene. With Delvon leaning into his ever-funky left hand synth bass and soulful assault on the Hammond B3, Ben’s searing guitar lines and funky chicken-scratch rhythm chops, and Olli's deep pocket and expressive open-kit, polyrhythmic playing, the trio created a wide palette of supremely groovy, and original music that harkened back to the smoke filled jazz clubs of the late 60's. As a live experience the vibe climbed even higher providing the dancefloors with full hip swaying as rabid fans resonated with the genre-fluid soloing and improvisational styles that would cast a spell over every room.

The band went into Studio Soli (West Seattle) in the fall of 2013 to record their debut album with Seattle's legendary recording engineer, Mel Detmer , which resulted in immediate cult classic status upon its release in 2014. Teaming up with the now world-renowned illustrator and poster artist, Pete Shaw, the cover artwork brilliantly captured the vibe. The album was widely circulated around the NW and extremely well received by fans who clamored for a document of the live RC experience, and the opportunity to bask in the magic these three prolific musicians created together. Around this same time, Polyrhythmics was growing in popularity taking Ben out of town for tours , and the Delvon Lamaar Organ Trio was bubbling up and starting to gain global attention all of which continued to push Seattle's funky soul out to the world, but leaving less and less time for Rippin Chicken to fly. Much to the dismay of fans that had been moved by this trio's unique and fiery approach to deep pocket grooves and transcendent psychedelic rock prowess, the opportunity to get together for shows and more recordings became less and less over time. The band's original goal of pressing the album to wax for release was tabled as the success of other projects projected the member's careers into new directions.

Now, for the first time ever, thanks to the dedicated community that is the Heady Wax Fiends record group, the debut album from Rippin Chicken is finally available on Wax. This collection of grease and soul has been beautifully re-mastered from the original tapes by Doug Krebbs, vibrant illustration updated by Pete Shaw, and a sound that three of the North West’s finest musicians poured their soul into is now ready for the Heady Wax community to enjoy in High Fidelity. Kudos to HWF for helping curate a piece of vinyl that will become a crown jewel in your funk collection.