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live at the roxy

Live albums are generally difficult to produce well. It seems that the mixing is always strange, and some voices generally dominate while others get lost in the mix. Even so, live albums generally capture the feel of a band that studio albums never can.

This album is no exception to any of these rules. The mix is extremely muddy, and it is hard to hear the voicings of the guitar all the time. However, unlike many live albums I have heard, the bass is loud and clear, which is a nice change, though it does sound a bit high in the mix.

Alright . . . enough about the live aspect and on to the music itself. Officer Negative plays a pretty tight brand of "rage punk." Basically, the music is very punk, with fast and furious 3 and 4-chord progressions, with a surprise in the guitar every now and then. As I said before, the bass can be very easily heard on this CD, which is good, as it complements the rest of the music well. I call this "rage punk" because the vocals are pretty much of the old-school Tooth & Nail hardcore brand. At times, they remind me of Strongarm, at others, Unashamed (first CD anyway), and still others, Overcome. To me, these vocals are a lot harsher than those offered by Crashdog and The Crucified, and it adds a different flavor to the music.

Overall, this is a fun album. It features 8 songs at around 22 minutes, which begs for EP status in my opinion, but, then again, it is punk rock. The guitarist even breaks a string just before the last song of the set, so they go into a strange bass-driven with drums improv song while the string is changed. Definitely punk. [Screaming Giant/ DB]