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Cover Art Negativland
Happy Heroes EP
[Seeland]
Rating: 5.0

Usually, when Negativland ventures into EP country, the result is a tight, savvy little package worth many a replay. Not so with Happy Heroes, a continuation of Negativland's fall from greatness.

Okay, so it's not that bad. "OJ Simpson and His Personal Trainer Kill Nicole and Ron Goldman" is classic Negativland, appropriating samples from OJ's workout tape with hilarious, if not predictable results. (Then again, with a title like that...) Out of the eight tracks on this EP, it's one of the few that strays from the "concept" revolving around Mertz pills, the magical drug that "makes up your mind." You get a couple of Mertz commercials and a jingle thrown in with the OJ track, a weak remix of a weak track from Dispepsi, a song featuring outtakes from an old Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial, and some new stuff that, while well done, is ultimately forgettable.

-Jason Josephes

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RATING KEY
10.0: Indispensable, classic
9.5-9.9: Spectacular
9.0-9.4: Amazing
8.5-8.9: Exceptional; will likely rank among writer's top ten albums of the year
8.0-8.4: Very good
7.5-7.9: Above average; enjoyable
7.0-7.4: Not brilliant, but nice enough
6.0-6.9: Has its moments, but isn't strong
5.0-5.9: Mediocre; not good, but not awful
4.0-4.9: Just below average; bad outweighs good by just a little bit
3.0-3.9: Definitely below average, but a few redeeming qualities
2.0-2.9: Heard worse, but still pretty bad
1.0-1.9: Awful; not a single pleasant track
0.0-0.9: Breaks new ground for terrible
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