Dead Kennedys
Fresh Fruits for Rotting Vegetables

THE REVIEW

(Did you miss me? I don't think so... Well, at least I'm happy to return to writing "reviews," after all, if someone doesn't update the bullshit on debaser, who will? The answer is that I have taken on the task of renewing the bullshit on debaser, even if there won't be a need, a laugh and a nice 1 to the review, it's not that bad, bring on the 1s!!!).

In a distant decade, the 80s to be precise; there was a planet, healthy, good, and also VERY DEMOCRATIC. Where parents did not buy records for their children, where kids luckily didn't have the "trendy-pseudo-bad" T-shirt of Slipknot/Slayer, where males were robust actors with blue eyes, where teenagers drank coke and groped girls' butts. Up to here, all was well, only that elsewhere, there was the working class and the true angry rebels. And what happened then? What happened was that rich people kept having gold while poor people continued being poor without being helped.

A human being from Earth named Jello Biafra, one day after watching a movement born in England (punk...) on TV, decides to follow the same path (not exactly all of it, as we will see later he didn't have much sympathy for dear Sid Vicious). He gathers some of his friends, who he surely met on the street, because: "the friend of the friend, of the guitarist of our band, would like...", etc., etc. So after effort upon effort, he decides to record this bastard of an album.

"Fresh Fruits for Rotten Vegetables," says it all! This album is a bucket of clean, fresh, healthy water in a sea of shit. And from this intention, our dear Americans against America record some tracks. Without a doubt, "Kill the Poor" stands out, which attacks American welfare society (de 'sta cippa!!!), against every kind of dictatorship (even the communist ones, they were indeed reds but liberators!) and above all against the irresponsibility of the American government, this time, however, it is not a Bush being beaten up, but rather an Al Gore, a bit incapable of managing a too-negligent population. This time it is not all (the Americans) who screwed the Dead Kennedys (the bad guys), but the Dead Kennedys (the bad guys) who screwed everyone (the Americans). They were generous because they realized something was going a bit wrong, and so instead of running for office, what do they do, they record an album to protest, because if you're in America and decide to become something in politics, then you become a democrat (true-bad) and a moderate (true-bad 2), and as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon taught us, freedom is something that must be taken even with strong measures.

"Holiday in Cambodia" is simply something amazing, that riff so intricate and ironic, but also very dark if you read the lyrics carefully, the voice of Jello Biafra is the talking cricket that comes close to your ear and annoys the hell out of you. Let's say it annoys you, but it also brings a tear to your eye, and how it does! "Holiday in Cambodia" is: You messed up here, here, there, there, there!!!. Here's what the truth is, clearly stated, not so fast, with a mock-authoritative and quite mocking voice.

The Dead Kennedys might have been a bit boosted by the T-shirts reading "Nazi Punks Fuck Off", with the swastika crossed out, etc., etc., but they remain a band that has truly given a lot, certainly to punk music (even if later the first glimpses of Hardcore will be seen), and especially to people who want to hear something real (and this time not from Banda Bassotti or Los Fastidios). To tell the truth, Jello Biafra's voice hasn't worn us out yet, taking you by the shirt, pinning you to the wall, and ripping your guts out! Maybe it hasn't worn us out yet, let's hope the Dead Kennedys start making music again and writing some lyrics to preach to someone we all know well, because there is STILL A LOT of work to be done here...