Archive Review: Jello Biafra & the Melvins’ Never Breath 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 ‘n’ 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?

Jello Biafra & the Melvins’ Never Breath What You Can’t See

It’s good to hear Biafra jump back into the fray and kick out some righteous rock ‘n’ 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 Melvins

 

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.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

    
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” re-elected 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, released 2004)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine...

Archive Review: Jello Biafra & 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 his 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, released September 27, 2005)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™, 2005

Alternative Tentacles is reissuing Sieg Howdy! on vinyl – get it now!