DEAD KENNEDYS

Coming out of California in the early eighties the Dead Kennedys were one of the primary players in the newly invented hardcore punk movement and also one of the first American punk bands of any influence not coming from New York. Hardcore punk is not really my specialist subject but I'd venture it is a sub-genre that takes the general principles of punk but speeds it up and makes it even more primal and aggressive. Thankfully, the Dead Kennedys were an exceptionally intelligent punk band - not just in the brilliant sardonic lyrics of frontman Jello Biafra but also the novel arrangements and innovative guitar parts of East Bay Ray - so any worries that their form of hardcore punk might degenerate into shouty nonsense are quickly absolved. Jello Biafra gets a rather bad press these days as I believe he tried to deny the rest of the band any royalties after their split in the mid-eighties and he has also, as far as I know, renounced music and concentrates on delivering his political diatribes as soap-box style sermoning rather than through the medium of song. Critics may argue that his lyrics on here are entirely negative - sarcastically denouncing the American government and social status quo without ever offering what might be regarded as a solution. Still, when the subjects of his vitriolic attacks are perfectly deserving targets, few could disagree. During the thirty-three minute album (and bonus material on a second CD) he accurately and deservedly ridicules the American government (most songs), corrupt politicians ("California Uber Alles"), the racist police (the exceptional "Police Truck", although strictly a bonus track), the condescending middle classes ("Holiday in Cambodia") and the general laissez-faire ignorance of the American public ("Kill the Poor"). There are few opening lines that make more impact than the opening of "California Uber Alles" ("I am governor Jerry Brown, my aura smiles and never frowns, soon I will be president" - I love the way he has the guts to name names) and "Police Truck" ("tonight's the night we've got the truck, let's go downtown and beat up drunks"). And, just for good measure, I've heard few better names for a song than "I Kill Children". Putting Biafra's lyrics aside for the moment the opening "Kill the Poor" (despite obviously having great lyrics) is immediate proof of the intelligence and innovation of the band. The opening section of it sounds remarkably normal, almost like a national anthem of some kind, but it brilliantly drops into a hardcore frenzy of speedy riffing and high-speed vocal delivery. The other undisputed classic on the album is "Holiday in Cambodia" which again begins strangely, this time with eerie guitar effects pre-empting the rumbling bass riff. Compared with the rest of the album it is actually quite mid-paced but it is clear a lot of thought went into both the songwriting and arrangement. The climatic section that builds into a disconcerting chant of "Pol. Pot. Pol. Pot." just gives the song that little bit of an edge over the other material on here. The lyrics are also typically brilliant, my particular favourite line being the oh-so-true "play ethnic jazz to parade your snazz on your five-grand stereo/Braggin' that you know how the niggers feel cold and the slums got so much soul". Man, those affluent middle-classes who go off to "see the world" really annoy the fuck out of me; and Biafra as well it seems. Very occasionally the pace of the songs is just too much to retain comprehensibility and the trio of "I Kill Children", "Stealing People's Mail" and "Funland at the Beach" hardly do their best to distinguish themselves from each other, even if the first two, at least, are pretty good songs. "Let's Lynch the Landlord" and "California Uber Alles" probably do distinguish themselves as the cut above the rest through memorable riffs and repetitive but catchy hooks. I also quite like the jokey cover of "Viva Las Vegas" that closes the album. Sure the musicianship isn't really up to the job but the way Biafra sings lines like "even if I end up broke I had a swinging time" is brilliantly ambiguous in that it sounds just like a sarcastic classic of his own. Finally, if you can you should get hold of the remaster with the extra CD as "Police Truck" is perhaps the best song in the whole package and "Too Drunk to Fuck" ain't too far behind. You also get the eerie "The Prey" for which Biafra narrates a mugging from the criminal's point of view whilst the band subtly crank up the tension. Without the extra tracks this might not be a definite 9* but I still think it makes a strong enough case in its own right. It is that rarest of classic American punk albums - one that didn't originate from the CBGB's.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk