{{Short description|American indie rock band}} {{Other uses}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox musical artist | name = The Ropes | image = The-ropes-band.jpg | background = group_or_band | origin = New York City, New York, U.S. | genre = Dream pop<br/>Indie rock<br/>Shoegaze<br/>Noise pop | label = SINLO<br/>Production Dessinee<br/>Cordless Recordings<br/>Rykodisc<br/>Discos de Kirlian | website = [http://www.theropesmusic.com theropesmusic.com] | current_members = Sharon Shy<br/>Toppy }}

'''The Ropes''' are an indie rock duo from New York City, composed of vocalist and bassist Sharon Shy and multi-instrumentalist Toppy.

== Formation and early work == Shy and Toppy founded The Ropes after meeting as interns at a record label. According to Shy, "While most people seem to bond over things they both like, I think it was a very long shared list of dislikes that kept our initial conversations going."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.repeatfanzine.co.uk/interviews/ropes.htm|title=An interview|website=www.repeatfanzine.co.uk|access-date=2019-06-17}}</ref>

The Ropes released their first full-length album entitled ''What They Do For Fun'' on the Kobe, Japan-based boutique record label Production Dessinée.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Ropes-What-They-Do-For-Fun/release/2321850|title=The Ropes - What They Do For Fun|website=Discogs|date=7 October 2008 |language=en|access-date=2019-06-17}}</ref> Music critic Allan Raible chose ''What They Do For Fun'' as No.&nbsp;15 on the ABC News 50 Best Albums of 2008.<ref name="raible">{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Music/Story?id=6556115&page=2|title=The 50 Best Albums of 2008: Nos. 25 to 1|last=Raible|first=Allan|date=2 January 2009|work=ABC News|access-date=6 May 2010}}</ref>

== Releases from 2009-2014 == The Ropes released the ''Be My Gun'' EP,<ref>[http://www.noisepress.com/2009/03/music-video-be-my-gun-by-ropes.html "Music Video: 'Be My Gun' by The Ropes"]. ''Noise Press''. Retrieved on 2009-03-26</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/allan_raible/2009/04/review-the-rope.html|title=Review: The Ropes' "Be My Gun" E.P.|last=Raible|first=Allan|date=13 April 2009|work=On the Record|access-date=6 May 2010|publisher=ABC News}}</ref> followed by another EP that August, ''Clubs in Europe Forever''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://neufutur.com/?p=10649|title=The Ropes "Clubs in Europe Forever"|date=23 August 2009|work=NeuFutur Magazine|access-date=6 May 2010}}</ref> They released the ''Love is a Chain Store'' and ''I Miss You Being Gone'' EPs in early 2010.<ref name="altsounds">{{cite news|url=http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/114271-the-ropes-love-is-a-chain-store-ep.html|title=The Ropes - Love is a Chain Store [EP]|date=21 January 2010|work=Altsounds|access-date=6 May 2010}}</ref> The song "I Miss You Being Gone” was playlisted by Irish radio station Phantom 105.2,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2010/03/10/the-far-side-playlist-for-tuesday-march-9/|title=The Far Side – playlist for Tuesday March 9|last=Carroll|first=Jim|date=10 March 2010|work=On the Record|access-date=6 May 2010|publisher=The Irish Times}}</ref> and "Love is a Chain Store" was playlisted by NME Radio in March 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.adequacy.net/2010/04/the-ropes-i-miss-you-being-gone/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505153809/http://www.adequacy.net/2010/04/the-ropes-i-miss-you-being-gone/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=May 5, 2010|title=The Ropes – "I Miss You Being Gone"|date=28 April 2010|work=Delusions of Adequacy|access-date=6 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=19527214&blogId=531565044|title="LOVE IS A CHAIN STORE" IN ROTATION ON NME RADIO|date=4 March 2010|work=The Rope's MySpace blog|access-date=6 May 2010}}</ref>

In 2011, the band released the ''Lack of Technology Made Me a Killer'' EP along with a video that was premiered at the 2012 SXSW music and film festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebjGebCirz4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113102823/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebjGebCirz4&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=2012-01-13 |url-status=dead|title=The Ropes - "Lack Of Technology Made Me A Killer" - Music 2012 - SXSW|date=11 January 2012|work=SXSW|access-date=19 May 2015}}</ref> The single "Lack of Technology Made Me a Killer" was chosen as Song of the Day by KEXP (90.3 FM) of Seattle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.kexp.org/2011/11/09/song-of-the-day-the-ropes-lack-of-technology-made-me-a-killer/|title="Song of the Day: The Ropes - Lack of Technology Made Me a Killer"|date=9 November 2011|work=kexp.org|access-date=19 December 2011}}</ref> In October 2013, they released an EP titled ''The Man Who Refused to Be Born''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indieglobe.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-ropes-man-who-refused-to-be-born.html|title=The Ropes - The Man Who Refused To Be Born|date=3 October 2013|work=Indie Globe|access-date=11 May 2015}}</ref> Two more EPs were released in 2014: ''I Want It All, So I Can Have Nothing''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vaderevader.com/2014/05/17/the-ropes-2/|title=The Ropes|date=17 May 2014|work=Vader Evader|access-date=11 May 2015}}</ref> and ''Sadness Is the Rich Man's Drug''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kaltblut-magazine.com/the-ropes-sadness-is-the-rich-mans-drug-ep/|title=The Ropes – Sadness Is the Rich Man's Drug EP|date=17 November 2014|work=Kaltblut|access-date=15 May 2015}}</ref>

The Ropes toured throughout the US and UK, opening for acts such as Crocodiles,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whiteheatmayfair.com/listing_detail.php?id=242|title=Crocodiles + Milk Maid + The Ropes|date=1 June 2010|work=whiteheatmayfair.com|access-date=11 July 2011}}</ref> Innerpartysystem,<ref name="vindy">{{cite news|url=http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/aug/06/ropes-try-to-sound-like-how-band-pictures-itself/?newswatch|title=Ropes try to sound like how band pictures itself|last=Benson|first=John|date=6 August 2009|work=Vindy|access-date=6 May 2010|location=Youngstown, Ohio}}</ref>The Bravery,<ref name="corner">{{cite web|url=http://www.thecornernews.com/index.php/news/comments/strong-as-rope/|title=Strong as rope|last=Jones|first=Andrew|date=5 March 2008|work=The Corner News|access-date=6 May 2010|location=Auburn, Alabama}}</ref> Chapel Club<ref name="http://www.banquetrecords.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.banquetrecords.com/nschapelclub;jsessionid=138F42D5ADFCFC9DBEA83EF1ED400D5D|title=New Slang welcomes four of this years breaking bands to The Hippodrome this week!|date=10 June 2010|work=banquetrecords.com|access-date=11 November 2014}}</ref> and Sunday Girl.<ref name="http://www.banquetrecords.com" />

The band's second and final LP as the Ropes was ''Post-Entertainment'', released in February 2013. In an IndieRay interview, the duo explained the title: "Post-entertainment is an examination of artist vs. entertainer. They are not one and the same. They are mutually exclusive. In a broader sense, it is an examination of the 'function' that music and art play in life. If art were to win the battle vs. entertainment – you would have Post-entertainment. Currently, one side is decidedly outnumbered."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indieray.com/interview/1659|title=The Ropes独家采访："所有的艺术家都是娱乐艺人"|last=Poppy|first=Chris|work=IndieRay|access-date=13 April 2013}}</ref>

== R. Missing == The Ropes started a new project with a more electronic sound called R. Missing and released an album in March 2017 on the Talitres Records label titled ''Unsummering''. Music magazine ''The Big Takeover'' wrote: "''Unsummering'' manages to be even more isolated lyrically than The Ropes’ famously nihilistic previous work, fully embracing complete detachment. Musically, fraught guitar and synth textures paint an image of an unstable world, held together only by tightly quantized electronic drum beats and Shy’s coolly dispassionate vocal."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bigtakeover.com/news/album-premiere-unsummering-ep-by-r-missing|title=Album Premiere: Unsummering EP by R. Missing|website=The Big Takeover|language=en|access-date=2019-06-17}}</ref>

== Influences and references == The Ropes have been compared to The Cure, Interpol,<ref name="altsounds" /> Garbage,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/2008-03-06/music/big-red-rooster-psycho-blues-the-ropes-braker-lane|title=Big Red Rooster, Psycho Blues, The Ropes, Braker Lane|last=Hughey|first=Jesse|date=6 March 2008|work=Dallas Observer|access-date=6 May 2010}}</ref> Poe,<ref name="raible" /> The Knife<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thejunction.de/impulse/2009/04/05/musik-tipp-the-ropes-008004/comment-page-1|title=Musik Tipp: The Ropes|last=Pohl|first=Isabelle|date=5 April 2009|work=The Junction|access-date=6 May 2010|language=German}}</ref> and the Velvet Underground, and they cite 1950s French New Wave as an influence.<ref name="vindy" /> French magazine Les Inrockuptibles named the Ropes as one of its five bands to watch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lesinrocks.com/2010/06/25/musique/5-groupes-a-suivre/cinq-groupes-a-suivre-4-1130486/|title="Cinq groupes à suivre (4)"|date=4 June 2010|work=lesinrocks.com|access-date=15 November 2014}}</ref>

Tricky sampled The Ropes' song "Love is a Chain Store" on the lead single "Does It" from his 2013 album "False Idols".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theropesmusic.com/post/46599349157/tricky-sampled-our-track-love-is-a-chain-store|title="Tricky Samples "Love Is a Chain Store"|date=4 March 2010|work=The Ropes' Official Website|access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref>

==Discography== *''Cry to the Beat'' EP - 2008 *''What They Do for Fun'' LP - May 2008 *''Be My Gun'' EP - March 2009 *''Clubs in Europe Forever'' EP - August 2009 *''Love is a Chain Store'' EP - January 2010 *''I Miss You Being Gone'' EP - February 2010 *''Lack of Technology Made Me a Killer'' EP - October 2011 *''Post-entertainment'' LP - February 2013 *''The Man Who Refused to Be Born'' EP - October 2013 *''I Want It All, So I Can Have Nothing'' EP - May 2014 *''Sadness Is the Rich Man's Drug'' EP - October 2014

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{cite web|url=http://sonicdissonance.com/ropesinterview.aspx|title=Sharon Shy talks up The Ropes|year=2009|work=Sonic Dissonance|access-date=6 May 2010}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ropes}} Category:Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Category:Musical groups from New York City Category:Musical groups established in 2005