Various Artists
Let Them Eat Jellybeans!

Jello Biafra & East Bay Ray a.k.a. Alternative Tentacles present "Let Them Eat Jellybeans! - 17 Extracts From America's Darker Side", a work dated 1981.

We are talking about one of the very first examples of compilations dedicated to underground music in the United States, which in its original edition included an insert with a list of all the Punk bands frequenting the scenes of the time in the USA and Canada.
The cover is easy to understand and depicts Ronald Reagan, and the title is always a reference to him: jellybeans were considered his favorite candies, and thus this parody title was born, along the lines of "Let them eat cake", one of the alleged quotes attributed to Marie Antoinette.
Therefore, in addition to being committed to the promotion of underground bands, this record also aimed to be a sort of political opposition, and the titles of the tracks included in it do not need particular introductions about the themes addressed in detail.

This was inevitably a strong inspiration for other independent record labels, which began to release similar albums throughout the '80s and, in recent times, for the more famous and mainstream compilation "Rock Against Bush", which was released during the 2004 presidential elections in two volumes (+ a bonus DVD with political commentary, music videos, and humorous sketches). Note the strong similarity of the artworks.

The groups featured were almost all part of the Alternative Tentacles roster and were divided into two factions, according to the sounds proposed.

SIDE ONE

The first part of the record is aimed at Hardcore Punk in its true sense: blunt, dirty, battered, and uncompromising.
The opening track is entrusted to a pivotal group like Flipper and their "Ha Ha Ha", a track with a drunken, dissonant progression like few others, just to scare the novice listeners a bit.
Then immediately follows the absurd speed of the bass drum in "The Prisoner", a great track by D.O.A., considered among the very first to have proposed Hardcore Punk sounds from the streets of Vancouver, Canada.
The sounds of real Punk Rock still echo a lot, where instruments and vocals are still "clean and orderly" compared to what HC will offer over the years.

The next tracks represent an authentic combo: "Police Story" by Black Flag, "Pay To Cum" by Bad Brains, "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" by Dead Kennedys, and "Paid Vacation" by Circle Jerks. I could practically stop writing and send the review "to print."
Not much to say except for a few notes: "Police Story" and "Pay To Cum" are slightly different versions from the originals, as the first is the version from the "Six Pack" EP featuring Dez Cadena on vocals (line-up prior to the seminal "Damaged") and the second is the version contained in the eponymous 7" single, played with the addition of cowbell in industrial quantities.
About "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!", I can only affirm it as a true anthem and point out the brutal cover (in a very good sense!) by Napalm Death.

Relatively lesser-known tracks follow for the masses.
The semi-hypnotic and pleasantly monotonous "Prostitution" by Really Red and the blasphemous and politically incorrect "Jesus Entering From The Rear" by Feederz, which scandalized several parents and perhaps still does.
This first part concludes with the good old school Punk of "Slave To My Dick" by Subhumans, substantially lowering the decibels in preparation for the second round.

SIDE TWO

This faction, on the other hand, is dedicated to a series of artists not properly affiliated with the previous groups, as they contaminated Punk with different sounds.
The honor of opening this new series of dances was given to Geza X, historical producer of Dead Kennedys (remember his production of "Holiday In Cambodia"!!!), Black Flag, and Germs.
He proposes a funny track titled "Isotope Soap", with pseudo-circus veins, reminiscent of sounds easily heard at village fairs.

With "Persecution - That's My Song", BPeople introduce themselves, a group that had a very short life and released very little concentrated material in the triennium 1979-1981. The same goes for the subsequent "An Object" by Wounds, which released only one EP with few tracks.
In fact, these are two tracks with very similar and purely Punk Rock sounds, making them the least experimental examples of this part.

Worthy of special note is "Everyone's A Bigot" by The Offs (not to be confused with OFF!), the first true track that almost entirely forgets Punk, giving in to the Ska vibe. Among the most enjoyable tracks of the compilation.
The experiments continue with "Corporate Food" by Anonymous of Steve Frisk, marking this character's recording debut, a track disturbed by rather poor production but still interesting with its video game-like tunes in the background, and with the Noise of "Fun Again" by Half Japanese, considered the weak link of the overall record.

The adventure concludes with the marching New Wave of Christian Lunch with their "Joke's On You" and another rarity of beauty in the record, namely "Sleep" by Voice Farm, still with a New Wave character but more experimental, delightfully reminiscent of Talking Heads.

The compilation, unfortunately, was never re-released because Black Flag did not give consent to use their track and due to a dispute between Jello Biafra and one of the bands that participated in it (Alternative Tentacles has not revealed the identity of the aforementioned), nevertheless, it is a product easily searchable on the web, should someone be interested.