Jello Biafra - Beyond The Valley Of The Gift Police (1995)

As a young man, Jello Biafra had something that he wanted to say. Through the lyrics of the songs he wrote, performed by the band that he assembled upon arriving in San Francisco, the Dead Kennedys, Biafra achieved a semblance of fame and an even greater notoriety. His sharp-edged poetry struck out at the bloated hypocrites and authoritarian power structure of America with great wit and insight. Even if his words weren't the most polished or flowery, he delivered them with a ferocity and passion that made the Dead Kennedys hardcore pioneers, influential far beyond their commercial reach.

It's been just about fifteen years now since the release of the Dead Kennedys' first album, the powerful Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, and Biafra has come a long way since he wrote songs like Kill The Poor, Holiday In Cambodia or Let's Lynch The Landlord. Throughout this decade and a half, he's been responsible for the formation of a successful indie record label in Alternative Tentacles, and through the label he has helped dozens of other underground artists of every stripe – from punk to industrial to outright experimental – make their art known to the world at large. He's suffered through the break-up of his band, a well-publicized obscenity arrest and a lengthy legal battle against censorship.

Probably more than anything else that Biafra has accomplished during the past fifteen years, however, the most important in my eyes are his contributions towards the rebirth of the spoken word. Along with Henry Rollins, another underground icon, Biafra popularized an exchange of ideas and information, promulgating a widespread epidemic of thought created by a mind virus of his creation. Through the course of a handful of multi-disc spoken word collections and subsequent public performances, Biafra has torn down the artificial commercial barriers that have been holding back one of the simplest, oldest art forms in the history of mankind: speech.

Beyond The Valley Of The Gift Police is Biafra's fourth spoken word album, and, perhaps, his most adventuresome to date. A three-disc set, Biafra covers a lot of material over the course of the collection's three plus hours, managing to keep the listener's attention level constantly focused upon his words without ever lapsing into boredom. Biafra's insights are invaluable, his information well-researched and solid. Just as he did with the Dead Kennedys, Biafra uses a wicked sense of humor and a razor-sharp wit to comment on the foibles of the society we've created even while he is verbally skewering his deserving targets.

Given the time to stretch out and take proper aim at his targets, Biafra is devastating. Message To Our Sponsor offers progressive answers to social ills upon which conservatives and liberals alike stumble over in their mad rush to prove that they're more regressive. Experts provides a not-so-subtle commentary on the disasters created by the overpaid consultants we sadly turn to for answers, while his scathing satirical attack on the Religious Right is as hilarious as it is thought-provoking. His traditional Talk On Censorship covers his entire relationship with Tipper Gore, the Frankenchrist ordeal, his Oprah appearances and provides more than a few warnings that although the governmental cast might be different, nothing has really changed. The autobiographical Eric Meets The Moose Diarrhea Salesman is a brilliant accounting of growing up during the seventies and the insights provided by youthful innocence.

Throughout the course of the thousands of words to be found on Beyond The Valley Of The Gift Police, Biafra uses his verbal skills to warn us that the Emperor really isn't wearing any clothes, and that we should never fail to question authority. In an American media dominated by Lilly-white, right-wing conservative Christian voices, Biafra stands tall as a voice of reason, of concern, of passion. His is a radical world of ideas, of questions, of informed opinion. He never fails to move me, to make me think, to provide a different slant on a subject. Whereas Rollins' spoken word material opened the door to the sharing of personal reflections, Biafra's material has always carried with it the threat of danger, of subversion. Jello Biafra still has something to say; hopefully, he'll continue to share it with us for quite some time.... (Alternative Tentacles)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Beyond The Valley Of The Gift Police from Amazon.com)

Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist (2001)

Although they’re often underrated when mainstream pundits revise the history of punk rock, the Dead Kennedys were nevertheless one of the most influential and important bands in hardcore America. They provided a voice of sanity during the Reagan era and set the lyrical stage for other politically oriented bands like Rage Against The Machine and Corporate Avenger. This CD reissue of 1985’s Frankenchrist is part of Manifesto’s overall revamping of the Dead Kennedys’ catalog; this being the band’s third and, perhaps, most notorious album. The original vinyl release included a fold out poster by Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger that led to the arrest of DK frontman Jello Biafra on obscenity charges. Although Biafra eventually won the case, the attempted censorship and subsequent legal trials and tribulations broke the DK’s apart.

Strangely enough, Frankenchrist is long way from being the band’s best album (a spot still reserved by Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, their debut). Frankenchrist may be the most politically strident release in the DK catalog, but it eschews the satirical good humor of earlier efforts in favor of more poisonous lyrical barbs. Musically it is perhaps their most accomplished effort, however, with guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Flouride and drummer D.H. Peligro coming into their own as instrumentalists. The album kicks off with a mutant surf guitar riff, “Soup Is Good Food” documenting the early days of corporate “downsizing” and the hidden costs of consumerism. Biafra’s “Chicken Farm” offers a wicked raga-flavored guitar riff beneath a chilling tale of life during wartime. “MTV - Get Off The Air” points out the enervating, soulless corporate nature of “music television” while the pedestrian lyrics of “At My Job” are matched with a brilliantly martial undercurrent courtesy of some strange time changes and recurring rhythms. Biafra’s “Stars And Stripes Of Corruption” would later be revisited in spoken word form but here it sports an unrelenting guitar attack punctuating Biafra’s unique and powerful vocals.

At the time, the Dead Kennedys were a perfect fit between Biafra’s often-brilliant social commentary and the player’s hardcore punk assault. Biafra’s manic performances are legend, the energy and passion that he and the band brought to the material unmatched by any punk band in the decade and a half since. (Manifesto Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Frankenchrist from Amazon.com)

Dead Kennedys - Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death (2002)

Although often overshadowed by legendary outfits like Black Flag, X or the Misfits, the Dead Kennedys were arguably one of the most important and influential punk bands in the history of the genre. They were the most political of the new breed, mixing a radical worldview with a tongue-in-cheek lyrical style and uncompromising hardcore punk chops to create a thought provoking and unique, hilariously satirical sound. A late-80s PMRC-inspired obscenity trial didn’t shut the band up but rather managed to censor Amerikka’s most infamous punk rock troublemakers by breaking the band apart. A decade later, the band members have gone through another (very public) break-up, with East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro wresting control of much of the Dead Kennedy’s catalog away from vocalist and songwriter Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label.

Give Me Convenience OR Give Me Death is one of those former AT titles, reissued by Manifesto Records with the dissenting band member’s blessing; Biafra has disavowed the reissue series entirely. A sort of “greatest hits” compilation, Give Me Convenience OR Give Me Death is a great place for the uninitiated to sample the Dead Kennedys’ experience firsthand. Some of the band’s best material is collected here, including early songs like “Police Truck,” “California Uber Alles” and “Holiday In Cambodia.” A killer cover of “I Fought The Law” shows the band’s retro chops while a Biafra rant, “Night Of The Living Rednecks” foreshadows Jello’s spoken word career.

Old hardcore DK fans probably already have this title on vinyl or CD, but the reissue does offer cleaner sound via digital remastering and a 32-page reproduction of the album’s accompanying booklet, including song lyrics and Winston Smith artwork. I’d recommend Give Me Convenience OR Give Me Death for new fans, and would suggest that if you like this stuff, you should check out Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, the band’s best album and the lone title still available on Alternative Tentacles. (Manifesto Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Give Me Convenience OR Give Me Death from Amazon.com)

The Dead Kennedys - Mutiny On The Bay (2001)

The Dead Kennedys never released a live album during their brief yet notorious career as America's favorite hardcore bad boys. The legendary punk outfit's incendiary live performances have nevertheless been well represented by a handful of bootleg albums and videos, the best of which is probably Jello's Revenge (Armed Response Records), culled from San Francisco club shows in 1979 and 1985. Mutiny On The Bay is the first “authorized” Dead Kennedys live disc, part of Manifesto's reissuing of the band's catalog under the aegis of members East Bay Ray, D.H. Peligro and Klaus Flouride and against the wishes of vocalist/songwriter Jello Biafra, who has disavowed the entire series of reissues.

Mutiny On The Bay presents not a single entire performance but rather pieces of four different shows that date from 1982 and 1986. The original soundboard tapes have been digitally remastered but manage to retain a fair degree of their original energy and grunge. I hate to disagree with my old buddy Jello, who has publicly dissed Mutiny On The Bay, but this is a hell of a collection. A veritable “who's who” of the DK's greatest hits, this fourteen song set offers those of us who never got to witness the band live (i.e. most punk fans who didn't live within a day's drive of the west coast) a taste of what bootleg videos only hinted at.

Almost all the great DK songs are here, from “Police Truck” and “Kill The Poor” to “Hell Nation” and “MTV - Get Off The Air.” The energy in these tracks is undeniable; Biafra's warbling, operatic vocals jumping out of the speakers above East Bay Ray's slashing six-string work. One of the band's signature songs, “Holiday In Cambodia,” offers some fiery fretwork courtesy of East Bay Ray while the Flouride/Peligro rhythmic assault that opens “California Uber Alles” provides powerful punctuation to Biafra's angry vocals. The production seamlessly stitches together the performances; tying songs together with Biafra's onstage comments and smoothing out the rough edges so that the entire collection sounds like one lengthy performance. Perhaps some of the spontaneity is lost in this digital translation, but the quality of these performances shine through nonetheless and there is plenty of feedback and stage noise present for the purist.

There are some good Dead Kennedys' bootlegs still circulating around in trading circles, but Mutiny On The Bay puts most, if not all of them to shame. If all you know of the Dead Kennedys is their reputation, then Mutiny On The Bay, coupled with the band's incredible debut, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, are perfect introductions to the band's legacy. Let's hope that Manifesto has some other live material of this quality stashed away in the vault for future release. The Dead Kennedys were one of the most influential hardcore punk bands of the eighties; their importance based on live performances like those captured by Mutiny On The Bay. Let's hear some more! (Manifesto Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Mutiny On The Bay from Amazon.com)

Jello Biafra with the Melvins - Sieg Howdy! (2005)

America loves a sequel! How else could you explain the inexplicable success and dubious achievements of American Idol, the gasoline crisis or George W. Bush (Reagan-lite)? America seems to love the comforts of familiarity...but familiarity inevitably breeds contempt, and where there's contempt, you'll find Jello Biafra. For better than a quarter-century now, Biafra has given voice to our contempt, first through his groundbreaking and influential hardcore punk band the Dead Kennedys and later through a series of spoken word albums and musical collaborations with fellow travelers like Mojo Nixon, DOA and Ministry's Al Jourgensen, among others. It's safe to say, however, that Biafra has found the perfect musical foils in the Melvins.

Last year, Biafra the punk icon teamed up with grunge forefathers the Melvins to create a red-hot blast furnace of an album in Never Breathe What You Can't See. The collaboration proved to be Jello's most productive and critically-acclaimed since the heyday of the Dead Kennedys, and your humble scribe echoed the sentiments of many punk fans when, reviewing that album, I stated that "hopefully this will be but the first of several collaborations between Biafra and the Melvins." Like a kid eagerly ripping away wrapping paper on Christmas morning, the Reverend was overjoyed to open a recent package from Alternative Tentacles to find a copy of Sieg Howdy!

I'm here to tell you boys and girls, that not only does Sieg Howdy! meet the high expectations created by its predecessor, in many ways the new album passes Never Breathe What You Can't See like a DeTomaso Pantera screaming past a Volkswagen on the autobahn. Biafra sounds more comfortable working with King Buzzo and the boys, easily delivering his most spirited vocal performance in a decade or more. On the flip side, the Melvins also sound more natural backing Biafra, the band mixing shades of DK-inspired hardcore thrash alongside their trademarked metallic sludge and riff-happy, feedback-ridden instrumentation. The resulting sound is simply invigorating, a heady musical elixir that kicks the stall like a horny, drunken mule.

The songs on Sieg Howdy! also showcase some of Biafra's most inspired lyrics since Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. Tackling issues like the "War On Terrorism," Christian extremism, the Middle East and Republican politics with deadly accuracy and more than a little intelligent humor, Biafra again proves that the pen is mightier than the sword in spreading seditious ideas and satirizing your enemy. Jello updates one of his better earlier songs as "Kali-Fornia Uber Alles 21st Century" to include Governor Ah-nold's political ambitions, while a spot-on cover of Alice Cooper's "Halo Of Flies" recreates the original song's reckless menace. Biafra even takes aim at the complacency of young punk fans with "Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything)" and puts his relationship with his former band members in perspective with "Voted Off The Island."

Whenever times have gotten dark, we have always been able to depend on Jello Biafra to shine a light on greed, injustice and hypocrisy. With the Melvins at his side, Biafra has delivered his most incendiary collection yet in Sieg Howdy! Ignore this album at your own peril 'cause it rocks like Friday night at a Delta juke joint and displays more intelligent thought than the entire Bush administration combined. (Alternative Tentacles Records)

Jello Biafra with the Melvins - Never Breathe What You Can't See (2004)

Over the past decade, punk rock icon Jello Biafra has become known by young audiences more for his incendiary spoken word performances than for the ground-breaking, earth-shaking rock & roll that he once created with his band the Dead Kennedys. While you won't see a DK reunion as long as Biafra and his former bandmates remain estranged and some former child actor fronts the band, with the Melvins backing him on Never Breathe What You Can't See, who needs the past?

It's good to hear Biafra jump back into the fray and kick out some righteous rock & roll jams once again. While disciples like Anti-Flag and Corporate Avenger have taken the politically-edged punk that Biafra helped define to new extremes, Biafra remains a master of his craft. Never Breathe What You Can't See cuts to the bone, Jello's acerbic lyrics, skewed sense of humor and manic vocals providing a rush of fresh air that blows away the foul stench of "W" and his cronies. Biafra has never been afraid of baiting the powers that be, and his work here with the Melvins is no exception. What other rocker today would have the cajones to open a song with lyrics like "Thank you, Osama/You are the savior/Of our economy today" as Biafra does on "McGruff The Crime Dog?" Questioning the false sense of security provided in our homeland by color charts and anti-terror legislation that only fattens the corporate bottom line, Biafra asks "Why not hire half the country/To spy on the other half?"

The rest of Never Breathe What You Can't See follows much the same line of thought, Biafra's razor-sharp, wickedly satirical lyrics tackling such heady subjects as Christian fundamentalism, Conservative politics, America's fawning consumerism and fascination with the wealthy. Jello's bombastic verbiage wouldn't hit nearly as hard if the music wasn't strong; in the Melvins Biafra may well have found the perfect foils for his high-voltage performing style. Veterans of the early-90s great northwestern music industry gold rush that killed Kurt and cloned Eddie, the Melvins know a thing or two about creating a joyous noise, and they do so behind Biafra. King Buzzo's guitars dance and sting like a horde of angry hornets while the explosive backing rhythm blasts out of your speakers like rubber bullets from a riot squad's rifles.

It's interesting to note that Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys burst onto the hardcore punk scene at the dawn of the conservative Reagan era, mocking the institutions that America held dear with blistering three-chord abandon and reckless lyrics. With "King George" reelected to another four years in office, now – more than ever – we need Jello Biafra and the unflagging spirit of defiance that his music represents. As biting as acid on the tongue and as relevant as tomorrow's headlines, Never Breathe What You Can't See is exactly what the doctor ordered to chase away your post-election blues. Hopefully this will be but the first of several collaborations between Biafra and the Melvins. (Alternative Tentacles Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Never Breathe What You Can't See from Amazon.com)

Jello Biafra - In The Grip Of Official Treason (2006)

Since President Bush's popularity has dropped faster than the Titanic what with this whole "morass" thing going on over in Iraq (and, lest we forget, Afghanistan too), a lot of otherwise spineless twits have raised up on their hind legs and started bashing the administration. Big fat hairy deal! It's easy to kick the man and his friends when they're down and out; it's another thing entirely to challenge the powers that be when, like Cagney, they're "on top o' the world, ma!"

That's where Jello Biafra comes in...for two decades and four Presidential administrations, Biafra has been the proverbial fly in the political buttermilk. The former Dead Kennedys' frontman and punk rock icon has forged an impressive second career as a speaker and social commentator. The Green Party progressive has never been afraid to tackle the big issues, pointing out the hypocrisy and contradictions of public policy regardless of whether it's the Republications or the Democrats holding the seat of power.

In The Grip Of Official Treason is Biafra's eight spoken word collection, a massive three-disc set that gathers material from several Biafra performances over the last couple of years. The extended rants on the discs run the gamut of subject matter, from U.S. policy in the Middle East and, of course, the war in Iraq to America's preoccupation with electronic gadgets and their dehumanizing effect on the social landscape. Biafra's well-researched commentary and insightful observations are delivered with no little amount of humor, a necessary ingredient to keep the bile from rising up at the harsh reality these stories reveal.

Biafra has often been accused of "preaching to the choir," that those listeners most likely to pick up spoken word albums like In The Grip Of Official Treason are those who likely already agree with Biafra's anarcho-leftist worldview. However, I don't necessarily agree with this criticism. A look at the album's liner notes shows that pieces like "Punk Voter Rally Cry" and "Die For Oil, Sucker" have been taken from a variety of live performances. From the 2004 "Rock Against Bush" tour stop in Tempe, Arizona to the H.O.P.E. 2006 Hacker Conference in NYC, Biafra is often speaking before audiences that probably don't hold firsthand memories of the Dead Kennedys. Many of his college-age audience members were still in diapers when Biafra released No More Cocoons, his first spoken word album, nearly twenty years ago.

For many of Biafra's young listeners, his observations come as a revelation, and the material you'll find on In The Grip Of Official Treason is no different. The wide range of topics covered by Biafra, all obviously thought out in detail and well documented, is stunning and best swallowed in one-disc doses. Even for someone as well-read as the Reverend, Jello still manages to teach me something that I didn't already know, opening my eyes to a new reality, however depressing it may be.

The most amazing thing about In The Grip Of Official Treason is that Biafra can still do this gig, that he still holds a glimmer of hope in the face of Democratic betrayal, Republican corruption and corporate greed. Biafra is the punk rock Diogenes searching for one honest man; or maybe he's the left-wing Paul Revere, warning us of the coming storm. Either way, In The Grip Of Official Treason entertains and enlightens, and if it doesn't piss you off, you're just not listening.... (Alternative Tentacles Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy In The Grip Of Official Treason from Amazon.com)

Jello Biafra - Become The Media (2001)

Depending on your political, social and/or cultural perspective, former Dead Kennedy's frontman Jello Biafra is a punk icon, a rock star sell-out, a hacker hero, a radical leftist, a media gadfly or a pain in the ass. Truth is, he's a little of most of these things (tho' the rock star bit is stretching it a bit, don't ya think?), which is part of his charm. A guerilla artist, Biafra has been working on the fringes of pop culture for years now, the modern equivalent of Diogenes searching for an honest man or perhaps Paul Revere, sounding the call of a corrupt society and cultural impoverishment.

Become The Media is Biafra's sixth massive collection of spoken word performances, a three-CD set that delivers almost four hours of material at the price of little more than a single CD. Culled from performances and speeches made by Jello during the millennial year, Become The Media provides listeners not just with "food for thought" but an entire nine-course meal for the intellect. Some of Biafra's observations are continuations of those from previous spoken word collections, such as his thoughts on the growing corporate domination of the media and society ("Frankenfood Landscape," "K.O. the W.T.O.") or his satirical damning of vacuous mainstream culture ("Become The Media").

Biafra was busy on the campaign trail last year, as well. A Green Party candidate for President, Biafra gave his support and endorsement to Green nominee Ralph Nader. "The Green Wedge" explains the Green Party's role and a legitimate third party and an alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties. Biafra was also at the two party conventions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, offering his observations on what really happened and what the media didn't tell us. "Hack The Planet" was a speech given to the H2K hacker convention in New York City and tackles everything from "hacktivist" political protests to Napster. Biafra also addresses the recent split between he and his former Dead Kennedys bandmates over royalties and song licensing.

As usual, Become The Media showcases Biafra's keen eye and quick wit as a social commentator. Biafra's observations and comments are insightful, often humorous and always intelligent. Over the course of a decade and six albums, Jello Biafra has become an integral part of the counter-culture. An alternative populist and proud voice of the unheard political left, his role is to educate us, infuriate us and hopefully shock us into action. To that end, Become The Media succeeds, stimulating the listener's intellect, sneaking serious and dangerous ideas into your brain in the guise of entertainment. (Alternative Tentacles)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Become The Media from Amazon.com)