Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
During my junior year of high school (1980), I heard the Dead Kennedys debut album “Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables” at a rocking party. I had heard other punk bands and was a fan of Black Flag, the Clash, the Misfits, the Sex Pistols and the Ramones, but something about the DKs particularly resonated with me. The music was energetic and full of attitude, with a helping of snarling satire courtesy of Jello Biafra’s lyrics. It was the first point in my young adult life that I recognized the editorial voice present in rebellious music, which led me to explore some of the historical politically-charged recordings of Woody Guthrie. At the time in my life when I was on the cusp of adulthood, the status quo seemed boring and artificial. The DKs deftly skewered America’s middle class conservatism, and smarmy lyrics aside, it acted as a great soundtrack for my final summer as a high school student.
Just a few years before I started listening to punk, I was a big KISS fan (and I still am). KISS scored a fairly respectable parental freakout quotient. They were considered dangerous, scary, offensive, and possibly Satanic (which is completely ridiculous, but it was a popular rumor held to be true by concerned mommies). In actuality they were just a rock band with cool costumes. Yes, they were very cool, but they didn’t have much of a political bent and certainly not a religious one. It’s interesting that the DKs showed up just a few years after KISS, yet they delivered a much larger whallop of shock by attacking America’s complacency and hypocrisy. They were just guys from California in jeans and t-shirts, but the affront of their commentary and their raw style of music suddenly made fire-breathing and spiky armor seem a little tame. KISS delivered slick escapism, and the DKs held up a mirror to middle class values, magnifying warts and wrinkles. Ironically, by signing with a major label, the Dead Kennedys became part of the business establishment they held in such low opinion. But then they were ripped off by that very same soulless record company and much litigation ensued. In the words of David Byrne: “same as it ever was… same as it ever was…”
This CD / DVD set is a great reissue. It holds up well 25+ years later, and still kicks major booty.