Thinking now of an album from beyond our island shores. For sheer balls, this album released in September 1980 can lay a reasonable claim to be America's answer to 'Never Mind The Bollocks'. Jello Biafra and Co. set out their stall in 1978 in a way that conservative America was not ready for. Without even considering the music the very name, 'Dead Kennedys' was incendiary! Remember this was just a short 15 years after a sniper's bullet took out the nation's presidential golden boy and ten years after JFK's brother, Robert, shared a similar fate in 1968.
Biafra's stage presence during DKs gigs balanced the role of lead singer with that of performance artist. Like Rotten before him, Biafra would provoke a reaction from his audience. Moreover, the band's antagonistic relationship with local law enforcement was such that the members of the San Francisco Police Department often attended their home turf gigs and not with a view to enjoyment.
With their debut album, 'Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables', Dead Kennedys declared war on the American Dream, systematically attacking corruption and hypocracy observed both internally and in US foreign policies being followed by the US Government at that time. These attacks set Jello Biafra's razor sharp lyrics to East Bay Ray's killer surf guitar riffs and Klaus Fluoride's pounding bass. And all this was achieved with a large dose of vicious humour... surely the element that would have enraged the targets of the band's songs the most!
It's funny that I read a BBC review of the album when thinking whether to use this album in the list. The point of that review was that like 'pre-distressed Ramones T-shirts' now avalable in Next that effectively lay waste to a band's legacy, Dead Kennedy's have suffered the same fate and the potency of this first album has been lost. On this point, I think that it is important to consider those reviews that were contemporary to the album's release, such reviews suggest the opposite of the BBC position. The two that I have found are not full of superlatives at all. The music press were very critical of such music at the time, as they were tired of punk and to them 'Fresh Fruit' was more of the same 'punk by numbers'. In contrast, more recent reviews associated with various rereleased formats of the album cannot get away from the fact that Dead Kennedy's were the band around which a whole new punk rock scene coalesced, namely US hardcore. Nor can they escape the fact that the band subsequently influenced some of the US bands that formed in their wake that have gone on to be some of the biggeest bands in the world. In short, Dead Kennedy's have attained a status within punk that they never really enjoyed whilst they were together (with Jello).
The thing that keeps this album so vibrant is that the subject matter of the songs is (sadly) as relevant now as it was in 1980... even more so I would say. Ronald Reagan was a worthy adversary... but up against Trump he was a pussy cat (or should that be a chimpanzee?)
Here's a couple of UK reviews:
New Musical Express 27th September 1980
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