Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys, ‘Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables’, 1980. I was watching a video by Bob Vylan today (check him out) and the lyric “lynch the landlord” popped out. Ah. The DKs. San Francisco’s finest led by Jello Biafra. They were the main band in the West Coast punk scene, indeed, the whole US for a while. Everything about this band is a huge, angry, hilarious attack, directed mainly at Republicans, big business, the Christian Right, Reagan, jocks, cops and The Man in general. What sets them apart is Jello’s sharp, funny lyrics and the tunes. The band could actually play and were more than two-chord thrash.
‘Kill The Poor’ kicks it off, summing up Republican attitude to, well, the poor. ‘Forward to Death’ a comment on the ugliness of life. ‘When Ya Get Drafted’ anti-military, obvs. “Let’s Lynch the Landlord’ viciously funny with great bouncy Surf tune. ‘Drug Me’ stupidly fast and satirical. ‘California Uber Alles’ attacking liberal politician Jerry Brown and muesli Nazis. ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ skewering white liberal guilt. ‘Viva Las Vegas’ a comically black cover of the Elvis tune. Other tunes rampage and stomp by. Sadly, ‘Police Truck’ isn’t on the album. Search it out.
Jello is a righteous libertarian. He stood as mayor of San Francisco once and polled thousands of votes. The album cover image is from a riot after the ‘Twinkie Defence’ got Harvey Milk’s killer freed. The band were sued for corrupting morals by giving away a HR Giger image with the album ‘Frankenchrist’ (they were acquitted). ‘Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death’, another album title, is the funniest indictment of US consumerism ever. He used the money the DKs made to run the record label Alternative Tentacles helping support and nurture numerous bands. The band, skint for years, eventually sued him when he refused to let Levi Jeans to use “Holiday in Cambodia’ in an advert. I met him at a Jerry Lee Lewis gig once and he was the sharpest, funniest bloke I met in a whole year of living in California.
So, it’s punk but cleverer and funnier and more tuneful than a 100 Anti Nowhere Leagues…
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys, ‘Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables’, 1980. I was watching a video by Bob Vylan today (check him out) and the lyric “lynch the landlord” popped out. Ah. The DKs. San Francisco’s finest led by Jello Biafra. They were the main band in the West Coast punk scene, indeed, the whole US for a while. Everything about this band is a huge, angry, hilarious attack, directed mainly at Republicans, big business, the Christian Right, Reagan, jocks, cops and The Man in general. What sets them apart is Jello’s sharp, funny lyrics and the tunes. The band could actually play and were more than two-chord thrash.
‘Kill The Poor’ kicks it off, summing up Republican attitude to, well, the poor. ‘Forward to Death’ a comment on the ugliness of life. ‘When Ya Get Drafted’ anti-military, obvs. “Let’s Lynch the Landlord’ viciously funny with great bouncy Surf tune. ‘Drug Me’ stupidly fast and satirical. ‘California Uber Alles’ attacking liberal politician Jerry Brown and muesli Nazis. ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ skewering white liberal guilt. ‘Viva Las Vegas’ a comically black cover of the Elvis tune. Other tunes rampage and stomp by. Sadly, ‘Police Truck’ isn’t on the album. Search it out.
Jello is a righteous libertarian. He stood as mayor of San Francisco once and polled thousands of votes. The album cover image is from a riot after the ‘Twinkie Defence’ got Harvey Milk’s killer freed. The band were sued for corrupting morals by giving away a HR Giger image with the album ‘Frankenchrist’ (they were acquitted). ‘Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death’, another album title, is the funniest indictment of US consumerism ever. He used the money the DKs made to run the record label Alternative Tentacles helping support and nurture numerous bands. The band, skint for years, eventually sued him when he refused to let Levi Jeans to use “Holiday in Cambodia’ in an advert. I met him at a Jerry Lee Lewis gig once and he was the sharpest, funniest bloke I met in a whole year of living in California.
So, it’s punk but cleverer and funnier and more tuneful than a 100 Anti Nowhere Leagues…