Having gained their notoriety in an era when punk was hailed more as a state of mind and applied as a descriptor to everything from Joanna Newsom's harp skills to Volkswagen's place in the motor vehicle industry, Rocket from the Crypt's career serves as the ultimate reminder that, above all, punk is a musical genre, and one of catchy melodies, three chords, and fevered energy at that.

By the time of this live disc's release in 2008, Rocket from the Crypt were the genre's elder statesmen and had already boasted a decade-and-a-half-long, money-where-their-mouth-is stint. R.I.P. captures the band's final set in San Diego on Halloween in 2005, and the performance is one rip-roaring valedictory address. Over 19 tracks, vocalist-guitarist Johnny Reis and lead guitarist Andy Stamets consistently prove themselves to be millennial heirs to the David Johansen/Johnny Thunder tandem, with white-hot takes on some of their best songs. A DVD is included in the set, featuring a video of this memorable show.

Uncut (p.109) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he way that they blend Stax horns and high-octane punk makes it easy to understand why they inspired such devotion."

Kerrang (Magazine) (p.48) - "R.I.P. captures every push, shove, spilled drink and broken tooth..."