FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGETABLESYear: 1980
Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Cherry Red Records
Tracks: 14
Length: 33 Minutes
Style: Political/Funny
My Rating: 6/8THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH......DEAD Kennedys were a very political, creative punk rock band that existed from the late '70s to mid '80s (same timeframe as Black Flag), and the band was fronted by the charismatic, very intelligent man known az JELLO "BI AFRO" BIAFRA. They put out some singles in the 1970s with humorously political-centered tunes such as "California Uber Alles" and all that SHIT, and now here's their first full-length album, FRESH FRUIT for ROTTING VEGETABLES!!1. Kill the PoorHEEEREZ a nice jolly little tune about killing poor parts of the world with neutron bombs to make more room for fancy hotels and golf courses! WHAT FUN. Even liberals are wimps, too! Everyone sing along with me -- KILLKILLKILLKILL THE POOR! KILLKILLKILLKILLKILL THE POOR TONI-I-I-I-IGHT! The beginning part is slow, but then it gets a bit faster.2. Forward to DeathEven faster, eh? This song's about somebody who's so bored of life in capitalist consumeristic society that he's "looking forward to death", because American society puts a lil' frown on hiz face, man. This song was written by 6025.3. When Ya Get DraftedAwesome catchy guitar riffs and yet also a frantic, freakish side as well. This song's about Ronald (McDonald) Reagan revving the American people up for a new war with Russia and it's all for fucking BIG BUSINESS (not the band), MAN. The verse riff just sounds fun, and the chorus riff is more mean and mutated. The solo sounds like something out of a horror film.4. Let's Lynch the LandlordA bit slower. It's funny how all of these songs sound so gawdamn party-tastik and yet the messages are so serious. It's an awesome-sounding song, though. And it's about killing yr landlord (rather than yr idols). Because he wants more money for everytime you drink water. Some landlords who are Dead Kennedys fans have indeed complained about them writing this song.5. Drug MeThis is a really fast song that's not really as much an anti-drug tune as much as comparing the mainstream media and the government and entertainment industry themselves to drugs, using endless fake pleasure to keep ze kiddies entertained THEIR WAY. Yeah, I have to admit that I am into drugs somewhat myself. Not a TON yet, but I do know that getting high/drunk is totally fun. So yeah, drugs are bad mm'kay, but they're also really fun. Awesome weirdo solo in the middle of the song. You can't tell me they weren't on drugs to come up with THAT one!6. Your EmotionsEast Bay Ray wrote this lil' song. Awesome super-legit guitar riff. The beat iz fast, just makes me wanna dance! The song discusses how people are somewhat programmed how to feel by society and their surroundings, becoming like biological tape-recorders. YOUR EMOTIONS MAKE YOU A MONSTER!7. Chemical WarfareAN AGGRESSIVE SONG ABOUT... CHEMICAL WARFARE. "Down at the arsenal they keep the nerve gases, guarded day and night by caged white rabbits" -- AHAHAHAHAHA. In the middle, there's a freakish slow section that sounds like a creepy carnival song, sung by the famous klown, RAMBOZO. Then there's a bunch of hilarious sounds at one part right before the end. End of Side A.8. California Über AllesOne of the most famous Dead Kennedys songs ever... original released as the band's first 7" single ever in 1979, but this is a different version of the song. This version's slightly faster, and it portrays then-governor-of-Kalifornjia as the hippie Hitler enforcing his extremely liberal views on the rest of the state. "Mellow out or YOU WILL PAY"... man.9. I Kill ChildrenEIGH KULL KHULDRUNZ is another fun fast song beigh the DAD KINIDIZ about a KEH-REZEH SERULL KULLOOWER HO LOIX TEH KULLZ VER MINEH CHILDREN. "I've been butt-fucked one too many ways". Ain't that a drag. I like the riff during the mid-section of the song.10. Stealing People's MailStealing PeoplE'S Mail. Who the hell "People" is, I dunno, but if they were talking about PEOPLE as in the plural pronoun, then Jello would have titled it "Stealing Peoples' Mail", right, right? RIGHT?????????????? NOW NOBODIE KUNT FIND THER MAIL, GODDAMMIT!!!!!!11. Funland at the BeachFunland, funland... at the beach... Funland at the beach... yeah, I've been there. It FUCKING RULES. The sand is pink, the sky is always blue, and the cloudz are made of cotton kandYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. But really, funland @ ze beach is not always fun, 'cuz the lil' fat kids who like to the candy at this magical little world are getting killed and splattered to bloody little bits by the gigantic fucking rollercoaster and FUN-LAND. OH NO!! (cue Mr. Bill, here). Then there's a guitar solo hyah.12. Ill in the HeadThe riff consists of some normal chords succeeded by very quirky weird lead note progressions. The song's about a person who grows a case of mental insanity as an unconscious of tactic of coping with mundane life in the schizophrenic western society.13. Holiday in CambodiaThe most famous Dead Kennedys song ever, so famous, so FUCKING PUNK ROCK that it was FUCKING PUNK ROCK FEATURED IN... a car commercial? What is this world cumming to? Gee, I dunno, but here's what I think about the song: it's catchy. It's about a liberal college student who thinks he knows everything about politics and thinks American life's so hard, but even a sucky moment in the U.S.A. is better than... A HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA, LA-LA-LA-LA-LA! Here's actually what I said about the song in my review of "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death" earlier this year: "The most famous Dead Kennedys song. Now being used in car commercials, video games, and the like, it is quite well-known in mainstream music fandom possibly for those reasons, and also because it's just a catchy, fun song. This iz the version from the single in 1980. This version mocks the mainstream "liberal elite" kids who think they've "seen it all from daddy's car", but back east "their type don't crawl" -- telling the kids who think American life is tough to cheer up because even the hardest times in America are still "a holiday in Cambodia". The vocal harmonies in the chorus are great."
14. Viva Las Vegas
This is a cover of the song by Elvis Presley. Cool bass melody. It's pretty fast. It's a happy-go-lucky tune about going to Las Vegas to see all the girls and have a bunch of fun and shit. Interesting way to end an album, I say.
The album has a lot to say about a lot of perilous situations that plagued the world at the time and just even moreso now! People are crazier than ever, these days! The album has a really gritty, vaguely garage-rocky feel to it, like the band just recorded it to their garage to a few tapes and put it on some wax as-is. I could be totally wrong though, and totally am. It's kind of like the first Dev-O album, but harder. Most of the shit I've said about this album was said in the individual track-reviews, so yes, there's my fucking opinion. Definitely listen to it, if you have anything up that brain of yours you'll enjoy something about it for sure! The Kennedys would go on to perfect their creative genius with their next albums.
Top 3 Favorites:1. When Ya Get Drafted2. Your Emotions3. Kill the Poor
IN GOD WE TRUST, INC. (EP)Year: 1981
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore
Label: Alternative Tentacles Records
Tracks: 8
Length: 13 Minutes (Short)
Style: Political/Funny
My Rating: 6/8The Dead Kennedys was a band from San Francisco, California. As one of the main bands of the hardcore punk movement during the '80s, their music was wildly experimental, and their lyrics were amazingly good at conveying a point and the bad things about America in the modern era. "In God We Trust, Inc." was the second main release from the Dead Kennedys. The music here is pretty conventionally hardcore, especially on the first half of the album, but the second half experiments with some other genres of music. So I'm not sure what else to say right now, so let's listen to the music!1. Religious VomitThis song's really fast, and it sings about how the band hates religion because they all claim to have the answer "when they don't even know the question", and they just want your money and consciousness. Cool riff n' stuff.2. Moral MajorityStarts with the sounds of a mock-church choir humming praises to their at this point un-named god. The greedy preacher beckons the congregation to give him money and pray... Turns out their idol is none other than... "M-I-C...K-E-Y... M-O-U-S-E..." -- I fucking cracked up the first time I heard this. The song segues into the thrashy main part of the song. It criticizes the people who call themselves the "Moral Majority" who strive for a fascist, idealized right-wing version of how the world should be -- basically a theocracy (with a little war-mongering to top things off). These people just want your damn money and they're greedy bastards who usually end up to be guilty of all of the things that preach against (Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, George Rekers, the Catholic Church, etc.) "God must be dead if they're alive", Jello proclaims. Hell, these people want to burn books! Sound familiar? Jello's message to Ronald Reagan, Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms, Terry Dolan, Phyllis Schafly, and Anita Bryant? BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS!!!3. Hyperactive ChildGreat riff in both the verse and chorus. This song's about a child in school who's "tired of kissing ass" and forced to sit down and listen to lies in school all day. However, he just can't take it anymore and can't stop fidgeting in his seat, so they drag him away, "ram a needle in his butt", and now he's sedated to worship the flag and be watched by cameras in brick wall-laden halls for the rest of the day! HA HAH HAH! (evil laugh)4. Kepone FactoryThis song's the unfortunate story of a guy who finally finds a job working for a factory moving barrels. Unfortunately, the Kepone in the factory is slowly poisoning and giving some pretty damn bad side effects.5. Dog BiteThe band attempts a first take, and then decides to start over. I can't really figure out what this song's about. But apparently some guy got bit on the leg by a doggy. Probably my least favorite song on here. End of Side 1.6. Nazi Punks Fuck OffI've heard this song was supposed to be a diss on the English band the Exploited, who got in a conflict with the Dead Kennedys and are notable for their macho attitude and stereotypical lyrics and looks. Supposedly the Exploited wrote a song back, but I don't know what it's called (if someone knows, please inform me). Anyways, Jello sings "PUNK AIN'T NO RELIGIOUS CULT, PUNK MEANS THINKING FOR YOURSELF: YOU AIN'T HARDCORE WHEN YOU SPIKE YOUR HAIR IF A JOCK STILL LIVES INSIDE YOUR HEAD!". The song goes on to criticize the violent "cops" of the punk scene (punks who try to enforce conformity on others in the scene) and tells them that they'll be the first to go when the "Fourth Reich" begins. Love this song.7. We've Got a Bigger Problem NowThis is a new version of "California Uber Alles". However, as the title implies, there's "a bigger problem" in the whole country. The first half of the song is a bassly lounge-style rendition of the song. After a spoken part, Jello sings, "I am Emperor Ronald Reagan, born again with fascist cravings". He talks about taking away rights and forcing everyone to pray Christian prayers in school. Halfway through, the song revs it up and returns to an aggressive hardcore format for a short bit. It relaxes for a bit, and then slowly builds up to an aggressive style again. It's basically the old song with new lyrics. Jello goes on to sing about 1984 and being forced to go to boot camp and stuff. While listening to it now these lyrics might seem a little paranoid/dated, remember that Ronald Reagan had just entered the office the year this record came out and nobody had any idea what he was going to do -- eight years to potentially fuck EVERYTHING up, with the Cold War still going on, y'know? And hey, who says it'll never happen? Ya never know... sadly, a lot of people still worship Ronald Reagan today, including my own parents. That's just the way it was. Someday people will probably look at George W. Bush in the same light. Funny how history mysteriously re-writes itself...8. RawhideThis is a cover of the theme song for an American western show from the 1960s called "Rawhide". It's a pretty direct cover other than the fact that it's done in a punk-ish style, but the lyrics when used in the Dead Kennedys' context actually makes some pretty damn excellent satire (read the lyrics and you'll figure it out). Ha hah hah!On the cassette tape version, the band put the whole EP on the A-side of the tape and left the B-side blank. Their reason for doing this? Well, the BPI was starting to feel threatened by the fact that people were using their tape-recorders to record music FOR FREE instead of buying albums to give the record industry its precious money that it just totally doesn't have. So, there was a flyer that showed a "skull and crossbones" with a cassette tape instead of a skull saying "HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC -- AND IT'S ILLEGAL!" (which it isn't). So, being advocates AGAINST the record industry, the Kennedys (the Dead ones, that is) put a parody of that on the B-side of their tape version of "In God We Trust, Inc.", saying: "HOME TAPING IS KILLING RECORD INDUSTRY PROFITS! WE LEFT THIS SIDE BLANK SO YOU CAN HELP." Gahah! So yeah, this is a good Dead Kennedys record like all of their other records and you should get it. And by the way -- I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL FOR THE YEAR! YIPEE!!Top 3 Favorites:
1. Nazi Punks Fuck Off
2. Moral Majority3. We've Got a Bigger Problem Now
GIVE ME CONVENIENCE OR GIVE ME DEATHYear: 1987
Genre: Punk Rock
Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Post-Punk
Label: Alternative Tentacles
Tracks: 17
Length: 51 Minutes (Short)
Style: Political/Creepy/Funny
My Rating: 7/8If you hate to hear this, I'm sorry, but some politically-charged rock is just plain bad. I can understand if you want to use music for a platform of promoting your politics, but if your band's beliefs are sucking the creativity out of its music, then maybe you should consider being something else. I don't like feeling like I'm being preached to in church when I'm supposed to be listening to something enjoyable. Still, the Dead Kennedys are a different case. Their music is so artistically captivating that you can fully understand what they are trying to tell you in the emotions, music, tones, and lyrics used. You WANT to listen. Always interesting and far from un-entertaining, part of the secret to the genius of the Dead Kennedys/Jello Biafra is their ability to portray a situation from the antagonist's point of view. Listening to a Dead Kennedys song pits the Bad Guy against YOU, as he proudly and coldheartedly informs you of how he is going to tear you and your country down. You hear these words, almost induced into a state in which you believe that you are actually hearing the politician/dictator/government/religious leader/corporation speak right to you, and it makes you mad. You WANT to fight back now, and it doesn't take any more bullshit preachiness. Not just this, the Dead Kennedys were strong advocates against what might now be considered "posers" in the scene; the lugheaded assholes sticking around to smash some heads and listen to music that sounds exactly the same again and again. The band experimented with psychedelic rock, western music, swing, and electronic music, adding to their zany flair. The band's politics and music and built them a large fanbase and the band existed for nearly a decade until breaking up in 1986.The band released many albums, but they did many other things as well, such as writing songs that never made it onto this album and releasing 7" singles with other songs on 'em. This album does its best to keep a hold of all of the odds and ends left over from the Dead Kennedys' career, about a year after they disbanded, and it's the last Dead Kennedys release approved of by Jello Biafra, the original and true frontman of the band.1. Police TruckOriginally the B-Side to the "Holiday in Cambodia" single. It's an upbeat song about asshole pigs who like to ride around, get wasted, beat up drunks, and sexually harass women they arrest. When someone asks them if they're "doing something wicked", they reply "No siree, Jack, just giving out tickets!" -- HAH!2. Too Drunk to FuckOriginally the A-Side of a single. An energetic surf rockish songy. One of their most famous songs. Basically making fun of drunk people and the stupidity that often ensues in drunkeness. Yes, I'm guilty too! I think my problem is that I'm too sober to fuck, to be honest. My favorite line was at the end about having diarrhea. After the song ends, you can hear a person puking into a flushing toilet.3. California Uber AllesAh yes, the most famous Dead Kennedys song second to you-know-what. It compares the far-leftist mayor of California, Jerry Brown, to a hippie Nazi, enforcing his "mellow and hip" lifestyle on all citizens of California! This version is a little different from the Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables version in that it's older than that version and it's a bit slower as well.4. The Man With the DogsThe B-Side to the "California Uber Alles" single. We've all seen this man at one point or another, probably more than once. He hangs out in the city with his only companions, two dogs. People are creeped out by him. He bares all. He does not pretend to be any more than he is. However, he observes the others who he despises as being no more than mere rodents, and dreams of the day when he can "crack open their masks."5. In-SightThe B-Side to the "Kill the Poor" single. Another song with awesome lyrics. Basically about a group of douchebag friends who sneer and laugh at a "weird kid" from their school who sets his papers on fire, sits in a corner, gets bored by their behaviors, never hangs out with the girls, and often gets beat up. As the friends graduate and begin "planning their careers", the kid who they think is so weird remarks that they're "getting old". And they are.6. Life SentenceThe B-Side to "Bleed For Me". A very fast song about something I have seen happen so much around me. Once-rowdy high school kids grow old, worry about being mature enough and their careers while they lose their youthfulness. Something I don't wanna fucking do. Therefore, this song has a lot of meaning for me. It actually seems to be a continuation of the theme on7. A Child And His LawnmowerThe lyrics are about some guy who shot his own lawnmower because it wouldn't work and was dragged into court because of it, only to get right out after paying the fine. The moral here is to not be a macho destructive idiot because "if you did, you'd have half a brain left". One of the shortest songs on the album.8. Holiday in CambodiaThe most famous Dead Kennedys song. Now being used in car commercials, video games, and the like, it is quite well-known in mainstream music fandom possibly for those reasons, and also because it's just a catchy, fun song. This iz the version from the single in 1980. This version mocks the mainstream "liberal elite" kids who think they've "seen it all from daddy's car", but back east "their type don't crawl" -- telling the kids who think American life is tough to cheer up because even the hardest times in America are still "a holiday in Cambodia". The vocal harmonies in the chorus are great.9. I Fought the Law (And I Won)Another happy, poppy sort of song. However, the lyrics are about a pretty serious situation in America; the Law can't even obey its own damn laws! Being in the KKK, shooting people, stealing money -- it is revealed at the end that the narrator here IS the Law! What irony.10. Saturday Night HolocaustThe B-Side to "Halloween". It starts extremely slow, noisy, and creepy, with curious musings of a small town on strange smells and auras of poisonous material pervading their town as they try to ignore it all and get back to work... the fries at A&W are tastin' a little strange, and beyond their sight there are PEOPLE locked into cattle cars! That's when the song gets faster and a lil' more serious, as he goes over a plethora of social problems in the good ol' U.S. of A... the song ends in a quiet, sensual wooing to the girl with "Barbie doll lips" and a "spandex ass" mentioned in an earlier verse in the song.11. Pull My StringsThis song was recorded at a live concert. It's about your typical dumbass "rockstar" who plays music just to get rich and live a life of luxury, with their lack of creative talent just to make a quick buck. The song parodies "My Sharona" in one bridge section, and another section of the song is done in a reggae style. This song still applies to all of the fucking fools in the mainstream music industry today.12. Short SongsAnother live recording. It's a short song about, well, short songs. It's a short song for the sake of being short (half a minute). I have, however, written shorter songs than this. Not to brag or anything. Hehe.13. Straight A'sMore live Dead Kennedys! The song's upbeat, but it's pretty dark, lyrically. It's about a 16-year-old nerd who devotes his whole life to getting good grades in school due to pressure from his family and his school, as people laugh at him when he fails at something; leading to him contemplating suicide. He eventually does off himself, but "nobody remembers him", except for when they for a brief moment think about the possibilities... and then go back to their horrendous social structure that killed their boy in the first place!14. Kinky Sex Makes the World Go AroundA mock-phone call from the Secretary of War to Margaret Thatcher set to a spooky Dead Kennedys soundtrack... the plan involves sending the amount of "useless" young people off to war, putting them on drugs, giving them guns, and dispatching them into many different 3rd-world countries. The sad thing is that this is all being done to "boost economic growth"... sad, isn't it? Well, it's not a real phone call, but this doesn't seem too far off from the truth, y'know... 'specially since the economy's not doing so well, right now. I might also add that during the entire dialouge of the phonecall, Margaret Thatcher is moaning in orgasming in a somewhat creepy way.15. The PreyThis one's about a mugger whose "prey" are people with a lot of money, looking at the size of their wallets and sneakin' up on them until he can strike. You can feel yourself following in the footsteps of the song's protagonist, as you imagine yourself following an imaginary victim. This song is done in a slow, mellow, bassy style... sorta like lounge music.16. Night of the Living RednecksOne more live song! This song was completely improvised, featuring Klaus Floride, the bassist playing a bebop-style bassline and an accompanying beat, in which Jello begins telling a story about a time he was in Oregon, late at night, and is harrassed by a group of jocks in a blue pickup truck which looked like a "life-sized Hot Wheels car" yelling "HEY FAGGOT!" at 'im, and pouring water on him, much to Jello's dismay. He later met the douchebags again, as they asked him where the nearest McDonald's was, and Jello didn't know, so they poured water on him again, to which this time Jello responded by throwing a rock at their truck. And, like all over-reactive douchebags, the jocks responded by threatening violence, screaming "WE'RE GONNA KILL YOU, FAGGOT", as Jello was extremely nervous, attempting to hide. Taking cues from a group of mocking onlookers, he decides to actually pretend to be insane, begging to be put away in a mental hospital... the jocks don't like this, and call the POLICE on him. Well, the police arrive, clear up the mess, and everyone goes home. The End. Jello tells East Bay Ray to fix his guitar so they can play another one of their "real songs"...17. Buzzbomb from PasadenaSomething of a sequel to the song "Buzzbomb" from "Plastic Surgery Disasters" with a TWIST -- the song is sung by an old lady! It's pretty funny in that aspect, hearing an old lady sing macho-typical lyrics about her muscle-machine car which she seems to love more than people. The journey ends when a group of cops corner her at a 7-11, shooting her car up and eventually killing the elderly driver."Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death" was a result of many different recording sessions which spanned the band's career, from the earliest 7" singles to out-takes from their later records to demos and live recordings. It was released a year after the band broke up, so it can be considered their "last album" in a sense. While there are many other great songs that the Dead Kennedys wrote and albums they released besides what's all here, even this album really does sum up what the band was all about. The band actually reformed in 2001, but without a certain key member... JELLO! Well, Jello had opposed to the idea, and continued his activities of playing in other bands, performing spoken word pieces, and political activism. The band actually did in fact, SUE Jello Biafra himself over legal disputes over who owned the songs (even though Jello wrote nearly all of 'em). The new band did things that it would have spat upon under Jello's control, such as performing at a Coca-Cola sponsored show at one point, and allowing their music to be used for large corporations such as car companies. Because of all of this controversy, the band once again is not performing anymore since 2008. Jello Biafra is currently the frontman for a band called "The Guantanamo School of Medicine", a band which could be considered his own modern-day equivalent to the Dead Kennedys.Top 3 Favorites:1. Life Sentence2. Night of the Living Rednecks3. Saturday Night Holocaust
FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGETABLES
