dead kennedys Archives - Vinyl From The Vault https://vinylfromthevault.com/tag/dead-kennedys/ Mon, 31 Oct 2022 16:48:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 198238920 Dead Kennedys “Frankenchrist” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-frankenchrist/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-frankenchrist Mon, 31 Oct 2022 16:48:56 +0000 https://vinylfromthevault.com/?p=15084 Dead Kennedys "Frankenchrist" 1985. Alternative Tentacles. Today's spin in honor of DK drummer D.H. Peligro who died this past Friday, October 28th. Frankenchrist is also a good spin for Halloween, based soley on the LP's name (their song "Halloween" appears on the 1982 record Plastic Surgery Disasters). It's the band's third album and somehow reached #1 [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “Frankenchrist” 1985. Alternative Tentacles. Today’s spin in honor of DK drummer D.H. Peligro who died this past Friday, October 28th. Frankenchrist is also a good spin for Halloween, based soley on the LP’s name (their song “Halloween” appears on the 1982 record Plastic Surgery Disasters). It’s the band’s third album and somehow reached #1 on the UK Indie chart in ’85. Honestly, it’s my least-listened to of the classic Dead Kennedy lineup’s records. It’s still snotty and very political, but just not as snappy-punk as their first two records. Songs like “This Could Be Anywhere (This Could Be Everywhere)” and “A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch” seem to go on forever and I think “Chicken Farm” is just bad (and really over-produced). One of the better, shorter and hard-driving tracks, “Hellnation,” was written by D.H. Peligro (it’s the sole track on the record credited to just him, though he is credited with songs on other LPs). Also good: “Jock-o-Rama (Invasion of the Beef Patrol)” which hilarious skewers sports culture, the lightning speed “MTV – Get Off the Air” (at least once the song really gets going) and the killer “Stars and Stripes of Corruption” which is really long but doesn’t drag like some of the other tracks.

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]]> 15084 Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-fresh-fruit-for-rotting/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-fresh-fruit-for-rotting Wed, 02 Sep 2020 16:15:22 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/dead-kennedys-fresh-fruit-for-rotting/ Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” released 40 years ago today, September 2nd, 1980. Alternative Tentacles/Cherry Red Records (UK version). I wrote about this LP relatively recently but am happily taking it out its anniversary spin today, blasting “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” as loud as my speakers will allow. Such a perfect punk classic! So, [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” released 40 years ago today, September 2nd, 1980. Alternative Tentacles/Cherry Red Records (UK version). I wrote about this LP relatively recently but am happily taking it out its anniversary spin today, blasting “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” as loud as my speakers will allow. Such a perfect punk classic! So, too are the tracks “Kill the Poor,” “Holiday in Cambodia” and punk anthem “California Uber Alles.”

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]]> 9660 Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-fresh-fruit-for-rotting-vegetables/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-fresh-fruit-for-rotting-vegetables Fri, 10 Apr 2020 22:01:57 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/dead-kennedys-fresh-fruit-for-rotting-vegetables/ Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” released almost 40 years ago (fall ’80). Alternative Tentacles/Cherry Red Records (UK – the album pictured here). An absolutely brutal and perfect punk pull for today. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was DK’s first album and is one of the genre’s best. Charged with political commentary (even the [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” released almost 40 years ago (fall ’80). Alternative Tentacles/Cherry Red Records (UK – the album pictured here). An absolutely brutal and perfect punk pull for today. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was DK’s first album and is one of the genre’s best. Charged with political commentary (even the album’s title: Jello Biafra ran for mayor of San Francisco and one of his proposed polices was for the city’s statue of City Supervisor Dan White have rotten tomatoes available so people could pelt it; White assassinated Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk) – “Kill the Poor” (one of my favorite punk tracks of all time), “Holiday in Cambodia” (another absolute classic), “California Uber Alles” (same) and “Chemical Warfare” (again, yes). And if I was a renter at this time in 2020, I think the brilliant anthem “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” would be playing on repeat. So so good.

My first version of this album was on a shitty dubbed cassette around ‘85. I borrowed the record for someone when I was 14 years old and when I was taping it in my bedroom, my dad walked past and was horrified to see the band’s name on the album cover, not to mention the music. I was delighted with his reaction (of course).

**Run Out Groove Side A: “is life as boring as you are?”

Run Out Groove Side B: “Well??? Who are the brain police?”

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]]> 9835 Dead Kennedys “Iguana Studios Rehearsal Tape – San Francisco 1978” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-iguana-studios-rehearsal-tape-san/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-iguana-studios-rehearsal-tape-san Tue, 11 Dec 2018 17:59:12 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/dead-kennedys-iguana-studios-rehearsal-tape-san/ Dead Kennedys “Iguana Studios Rehearsal Tape - San Francisco 1978” Record Store Day Black Friday limited release, 2018. Manifesto Records. Demos of DK’s first songs with the original lineup of Jello Biafra (vocals), East Bay Ray (guitar), Klaus Flouride (bass), Ted (drums) and 6025 (“other guitar”) that “have never been released in any form anywhere and this is the [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “Iguana Studios Rehearsal Tape – San Francisco 1978” Record Store Day Black Friday limited release, 2018. Manifesto Records. Demos of DK’s first songs with the original lineup of Jello Biafra (vocals), East Bay Ray (guitar), Klaus Flouride (bass), Ted (drums) and 6025 (“other guitar”) that “have never been released in any form anywhere and this is the first new Dead Kennedys anything in about 13 years.” It’s understandably relatively rough and lo-fi, being a collection of demos and rehearsals, but the raw and furious energy of Dead Kennedys roars through and the collection includes several of my favorite DK songs, plus some really excellent surprises, like the bouncing reggae tune “Dreadlocks of the Suburbs” though the generally mellow vibe of the reggae beat is offset by Biafra’s signature sneer and the tension of the punk guitar that constantly bubbles below the surface. It’s great to hear the early versions of the tracks from their first album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables like “Kill the Poor” (always one of my favorite), “Forward to Death,” “Your Emotions” (so snotty!), “I Kill Children,”  “Holiday in Cambodia” (another fave, this version almost borderline psychedelic and unrecognizable – save for the chorus and the “Pol Pot” chant – from the one on Fresh Fruit) and “California Uber Alles” (the demo as dark and menacing as the final cut). Also included is their cover of the TV theme “Rawhide” (originally recorded by Frankie Lane) which appeared on their ‘81 EP In God We Trust, Inc as well as the track “Kepone Kids” which is a reworking of the song “Kepone Factory” from In God We Trust, Inc. Also appearing on Iguana Studios are a couple of tracks that I don’t think exist on any other official DK releases: the aforementioned “Dreadlocks of the Suburbs” plus “Cold Fish,” “Kidnap” (breakneck and Ramones-esque) and “Mutations of Today” (atonal and totally weird).

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]]> 10619 Dead Kennedys “Bedtime for Democracy” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-bedtime-for-democracy-november/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-bedtime-for-democracy-november Tue, 06 Nov 2018 17:47:08 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/dead-kennedys-bedtime-for-democracy-november/ Dead Kennedys “Bedtime for Democracy” November 1986 and current mood if things don’t go well for today’s election day. Released on Alternative Tentacles Records, gatefold with “newspaper” insert, which is eerily current for 2018 with the title “Fuck Facts!” and the tagline “What You Don’t Know Helps Us Hurt You.” Bedtime for Democracy was DK’s fourth and final studio LP; the [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “Bedtime for Democracy” November 1986 and current mood if things don’t go well for today’s election day. Released on Alternative Tentacles Records, gatefold with “newspaper” insert, which is eerily current for 2018 with the title “Fuck Facts!” and the tagline “What You Don’t Know Helps Us Hurt You.”

Bedtime for Democracy was DK’s fourth and final studio LP; the band broke up soon after its release. It’s 80′s hyper-political hardcore punk that focuses on anti-Reaganism (“Gone With My Wind”), anti-militarism (“Rambozo the Clown”), anti-fascism (“Where Do You Draw the Line”), anti-capitalism (“Fleshdunce”) anti-censorship (“Triumph of the Swill”) and anti-conformity, particularly directed at the punk scene (“Chickenshit Conformist”). Though obviously 80′s focused, Jello Biafra had a knack for seeing into the future (or maybe not much has changed) – see the track “The Great Wall” with its chorus “We’ll build a Great Wall around our power” or the toxic masculinity and dishonesty that has been venerated to the highest levels of power in our land – see “Macho Insecurity” and “Lie Detector.”

Dead Kennedys’ Bedtime for Democracy certainly isn’t my favorite DK album, nor is it their best – though it did go to #1 on the UK Indie chart – but it certainly feels good to blast it very very loud today. Allmusic says about the record, “The Dead Kennedys go out in a blaze of snarling, defiant glory in their final studio release. They drub a bushel basket’s worth of entrenched interests, including scientists, the military, the power hungry, macho attitudes, classicism, lie detectors, Reagan and his economic policies, the press, the entertainment industry, and the commercialization of rock and revolutionary attitudes. The album’s manic speed punk style recalls In God We Trust Inc., particularly on the frenetic cover of Johnny Paycheck’s hit “Take This Job and Shove It.” When the tempo slows, a few songs resemble frantic rockabilly; of these, “Hop With the Jetset” lampoons the privileged classes, “I Spy” savages government agents, and “Where Do Ya Draw the Line” is a plea in favor of anarchy. The quiet, furtive “D.M.S.O.” is a highly atypical number strongly resembling the theme to The Pink Panther. The lengthy, anthemic “Cesspools in Eden” is a hard rock number with unusual chord changes and lyrics railing against toxic waste; similarly, “Chickenshit Conformist” alternates slow and hyperfast sections and sports wide-ranging verses that constitute a scathing indictment of the rock music industry. As usual, the rushed hardcore numbers often garble or swallow up the well-written lyrics (if you want people to follow you into revolution, your ideas need to be intelligible). The album cover sports witheringly disparaging artwork; also included in this release are two muckraking newspapers, one containing clip art, and the other written articles about the obscenity trial embroiling the band at that point. While it’s not totally successful, at least the Dead Kennedys had the satisfaction of going out on their own terms. It’s all well worth hearing.”

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]]> 10682 Dead Kennedys “In God We Trust, Inc.” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-in-god-we-trust-inc-1981/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-in-god-we-trust-inc-1981 Mon, 14 Aug 2017 15:08:55 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/dead-kennedys-in-god-we-trust-inc-1981/ Dead Kennedys “In God We Trust, Inc.” 1981. Alternative Tentacles. Though I’ve blogged about this album before (it seems that DK are particularly - and unfortunately - relevant when awful things happen these days), I just haven’t been able to get the track “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” out of my head. Though written as a scathing reaction to [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “In God We Trust, Inc.” 1981. Alternative Tentacles. Though I’ve blogged about this album before (it seems that DK are particularly – and unfortunately – relevant when awful things happen these days), I just haven’t been able to get the track “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” out of my head. Though written as a scathing reaction to the punk rockers of the early 80′s who idolized fascist imagery and ideology, the sentiments are miserably still current. Just substitute the word “punk” for another one syllable word and replace “spike your hair” with “tiki torch.” As Jello Biafra says in the intro to this ‘82 performance of the song, “It’s what’s inside your head that counts. This is an anti-rascist song. Anti-fighting song…Nazi rednecks: Fuck you!”

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]]> 11571 Dead Kennedys “Kill the Poor” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-kill-the-poor-bw-in-sight-1980/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-kill-the-poor-bw-in-sight-1980 Thu, 19 Jan 2017 15:37:06 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/?p=2974 Dead Kennedys “Kill the Poor” b/w “In-Sight” 1980. Cherry Red Records. My mood for 80′s punk protest music has grown exponentially the closer the unfortunate inevitable approaches. “Kill the Poor,” its title dripping with caustic sarcasm, continues to reflect the hideous reality of our political climate. It was Dead Kennedys’ third single release and appeared on their debut album [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “Kill the Poor” b/w “In-Sight” 1980. Cherry Red Records. My mood for 80′s punk protest music has grown exponentially the closer the unfortunate inevitable approaches. “Kill the Poor,” its title dripping with caustic sarcasm, continues to reflect the hideous reality of our political climate. It was Dead Kennedys’ third single release and appeared on their debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. It even charted in the UK, reaching #49 on the singles chart and #1 on the indie chart, in 1980. Ned Raggett from Allmusic writes about the track, “Biafra’s conflation of liberal complacency, conservative aggression, and societal ignorance is both pithy and memorable.” It’s been 37 years and seemingly nothing has changed.

Efficiency and progress is ours once more
Now that we have the Neutron bomb
It’s nice and quick and clean and gets things done
Away with excess enemy
But no less value to property
No sense in war but perfect sense at home

The sun beams down on a brand new day
No more welfare tax to pay
Unsightly slums gone up in flashing light
Jobless millions whisked away
At last we have more room to play
All systems go to kill the poor tonight

Gonna kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor tonight

Behold the sparkle of champagne
The crime rate’s gone, feel free again
Oh, life’s a breeze with you, Miss Lily White
Jane Fonda on the screen today
Convinced the liberals it’s okay
So let’s get dressed and dance away the night

While they kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor tonight

Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor tonight

Behold the sparkle of champagne
The crime rate’s gone, feel free again
Oh, life’s a breeze with you, Miss Lily White
Jane Fonda on the screen today
Convinced the liberals it’s okay
So let’s get dressed and dance away the night

While they kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor tonight

Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor tonight

Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor
Kill kill kill kill kill the poor tonight

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]]> 2974 Lard “The Last Temptation of Reid” https://vinylfromthevault.com/lard-the-last-temptation-of-reid-1990/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lard-the-last-temptation-of-reid-1990 Tue, 29 Nov 2016 20:48:27 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/?p=3063 Lard “The Last Temptation of Reid” 1990. Alternative Tentacles. For whatever reason, Lard came up in conversation over the weekend and I realized I had never really listened to this punk-industrial supergroup (made up Jello Biafra from Dead Kennedys, Al Jourgensen, Paul Barker and Jeff Ward from Ministry) in any serious way so here is their [...]

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]]> Lard “The Last Temptation of Reid” 1990. Alternative Tentacles. For whatever reason, Lard came up in conversation over the weekend and I realized I had never really listened to this punk-industrial supergroup (made up Jello Biafra from Dead Kennedys, Al Jourgensen, Paul Barker and Jeff Ward from Ministry) in any serious way so here is their first full length LP, The Last Temptation of Reid. As anticipated, it is loud, fast, angry, political and sonically edging on the high end of industrial metal.

The album’s lead track, “Forkboy” was, fittingly, included on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack. “Pineapple Face” refers to Nicaraguan dictator Manuel Noriega who just prior to this record’s recording had been ousted during the US invasion of Panama in 1989 and was subsequently tried and sentenced in the US for drug trafficking and money laundering. Keeping a nice consistent evil-doer thread, the song “Sylvestre Matuschka” is about a Hungarian mass murderer from the 1930′s. “Can God Fill Teeth?” pokes at conspiracy theorists and feels even more poignant in 2016 (“Didn’t I just read/About how the cops are getting parents/To plant bugging devices/In their kids teeth/So if they disappear they can track ‘em/Before they wind up on the backs of milk cartons/And all that/ And didn’t I read/That these devices can go two-way/And everything that I do or say/Is all goin’ on tape somewhere right now”). The record concludes with an industrial-sized meat grinding cover of the manically creepy song “They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” originally performed by one-hit wonder Napoleon XIV (Jerry Samuels) in 1966. Samuels achieved the high-pitched insane vocals by using a VFO. Jello, of course, just sang it as Jello.

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]]> 3063 Dead Kennedys “In God We Trust, Inc.” https://vinylfromthevault.com/dead-kennedys-in-god-we-trust-inc-1981-2-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-kennedys-in-god-we-trust-inc-1981-2-2 Mon, 14 Nov 2016 17:18:39 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/?p=3089 Dead Kennedys “In God We Trust, Inc.” 1981. Alternative Tentacles. It’s just shy of the 35th anniversary of this EP’s release and it is both comforting and terrifying that most of its content is still very relevant. “Religious Vomit” and “Moral Majority” decry the sometimes over-reaching influence of organized religion on society, pointing out the hypocrisy of the [...]

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]]> Dead Kennedys “In God We Trust, Inc.” 1981. Alternative Tentacles. It’s just shy of the 35th anniversary of this EP’s release and it is both comforting and terrifying that most of its content is still very relevant. “Religious Vomit” and “Moral Majority” decry the sometimes over-reaching influence of organized religion on society, pointing out the hypocrisy of the religious right. “Hyperactive Child,” which today could be renamed ADHD child, calls out the over-medicating of school-age kids. “Kepone Factory” discusses the harm manufactured chemicals have on workers’ health and the environment. “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” points out that societal divides based on hate does nothing but strengthen a ruling class. “We’ve Got a Bigger Problem Now” (which is a revamped version of the classic DK track “California Über Alles”) could not be more timely, just substitute a name here or there and the song rings eerily current. Thank goodness for the EP’s closing track, “Rawhide,” a punk remake of the 1958 classic originally recorded by Frankie Laine and used as the theme song for the TV series; the song adds a much-needed lighthearted end to an awesome yet scary classic punk release.

Lyrics for “We’ve Got a Bigger Problem Now”

I am Emperor Ronald Reagan
Born again with fascist cravings
Still, you make me president

Human rights will soon go ‘way
I am now your Shah today
Now I command all of you
Now your gonna pray in school
I’ll make sure they’re christian too

California Uber Alles
Uber Alles California

Ku Klux Klan will control you
Still you think it’s natural
N***er knockin for the master race
Still you wear a happy face

Welcome to 1984
Are you ready for the Third World War?!?
You too will meet the secret police
They’ll draft you and they’ll jail your niece

You’ll go quietly to boot camp
They’ll shoot you dead, make you a man
Don’t worry, it’s for a cause
Feeding global corporations’ claws

Die on a brand new poison gas
El Salvador or Afghanistan
Making money for President Reagan
And all the friends of President Reagan

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]]> 7264 Punk Halloween https://vinylfromthevault.com/itunes-on-random-this-morning-is-on-its-scary-5/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=itunes-on-random-this-morning-is-on-its-scary-5 Thu, 29 Oct 2015 13:40:16 +0000 http://box2101.temp.domains/~vinylfro/?p=3812 iTunes on random this morning is on its scary accurate mode: two Halloween tracks back to back: how did it know I already wrote about DK on vinyl?

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]]> iTunes on random this morning is on its scary accurate mode: two Halloween tracks back to back: how did it know I already wrote about DK on vinyl?

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