Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

It's one of those punk albums that takes a chunk out of your brain, chews it and puts it back in. Jello's vocals take a bit to get used to, but his snarky deliveries of the socially conscious and venomous lyrics, some of which can be applied today, are great.

But are not the reason I like the album. The reason I like it is because of the simple nature, speedy deliveries, and the memorable surf-rock guitars. It embodies the spirit of California with the caustic taste that was brewing underneath the American dream.

Of course, I was familiar with the Dead Kennedys as pioneers of American punk rock. But after listening to “Fresh Fruit...” I have to admit that punk was rightly considered a European phenomenon well into the early ’90s. The Dead Kennedys may have the better sound and be very musical, but their ironic, intellectual style makes them, to me, a high school band trying to imitate British or German punks.
Not bad, but not the revelation I was expecting either.

Energetic punk rock. It's even subtle sometimes.

Favorite Songs: Kill the Poor ; Let's Lynch the Landlords ; Drug Me ; Ill in the head

Fantastic album. Iconic vocals and guitar riffs.

Bass is great but not a big fan of how it's mixed, but that's splitting hairs.

Переслухав прям із задоволенням. Класика!

Już chyba wiele razy wypowiadałam się tutaj na temat tego jak punk bazuje raczej na emocjach niż na samym tworzeniu muzyki. Chociaż tutaj akurat muzycznie jest całkiem dobrze, ale najlepiej jest tekściarsko. No to jest moja muzyka, mój vibe i tyle. Long live the punk.

Pretty terrible.

Funny, angry, catchy as hell, and the perfect length - it's like they worked out the exact moment at which any more of Jello Biafra's voice would start to get annoying, and stopped there.

If you know any DK songs, they’re probably on this record. 4.5

Det er SÅ sick

Og tilmed endnu en Guitar Hero III banger

3.9

Do I even need to review this? Best hardcore punk album ever. Ez.

Moderately like it. California Uber Alles is the good stuff. I was hoping for the guitars to ROAR more - maybe the production is a tad tame.

5/5. For my money, Dead Kennedys are the best punk band. As a sign of how much I love their music, I gave this album a 5 and it’s not even my favorite Dead Kennedys record (for me it’s their second album “Plastic Surgery Disasters.”) Of course, frontman Jello Biafra is a good lyricist and great satirist, which you can see on opener “Kill the Poor” where he plays the part of a policy-maker proposing the idea of just nuking poor neighborhoods so the wealthy can have more space.

But what really puts the Dead Kennedys above other punk bands for me is their rhythm section, where many punk bands are (albeit intentionally) loose and sloppy players, Dead Kennedys has a tight and precise style of playing where the members are always locked the hell in. There are a lot of great little bass riffs or short guitar solos to find here.

As for the tracklist, it’s all killer no filler. Whether that be the big songs “Holiday in Cambodia” and “California Über Alles” or Greta deep cuts like “Chemical Warfare” or “when ya get drafted.” There just isn’t a dull moment to be found here, and it’s also paced extremely well so it glides by very quick.

Also regarding California Über Alles, the version on this album is actually not my favorite version of this song. That honor goes to “we’ve got a bigger problem now” off of their “In God We Trust Inc.” EP which reworks the song to be about Ronald Reagan and is even more intense/angry.

It wasn't a sure thing that punk would be political, much less that it would be the succor to a generation of progressives in the wilderness. The Sex Pistols' anarchism was mostly an act, the Ramones' politics were... something. But the Dead Kennedys' sounds and lyrics were so radical and unforgettable that they revealed the political potential for punk from now until the end of time.

In Green Room, a wonderful and weird movie about live music and white supremacy, a punk band suddenly realizes they are playing a skinhead club. Without much of a plan, they open their set with "Nazi Punks Fuck Off." Why doesn't this crowd lynch them? I thought, and I wonder if it is something in the power of this group to say, "No matter what sick shit you do with this music, we are never going away."

Anyway, the skinheads lose in the end. Nazi punks fuck off indeed.

The punkest of punk rock.

I enjoy the idea of the Dead Kennedys more than I enjoy actually listening to the Dead Kennedys. But there is the occasional fun guitar work and the politics are on point.

I'm such a Dead Kennedys lightweight I only really know the compilation Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.

It's a weird cultural kink that UK punk found its strongest and best adherents on the US west coast, especially given the primacy of New York punk. I suppose that's the geographical rivalries and differences I can't fathom.

Jello Biafra's voice is so instantly recognisable but it was only with this listen that I realised how much it is a perfect distillation together of Joe Strummer and Johnny Rotten. Lyrically he also has Strummer's earnestness and Rotten's snark.

Whee another 5-star punk album. Every minute of this is great.

Compelling, rhythmic punk rock. It's got Jello's vocals, and the humorous but also strongly political lyrics (still relevant, unfortunately). "Kill the Poor," "California Uber Alles," "Drug Me," "Holiday in Cambodia," "Viva Las Vegas" - What else do I need to say. 5 stars.

5 stars

This is the best punk album I've heard.

I'm not usually a fan of the genre, but the variety, vocal and instrumental performances and sociopolitical commentary are all very complex and impressive. As a person of color I've grappled with some of the lyrics in holiday in Cambodia for 20 years now, but in the context of the rest of the band's work it seems like the point is the make people uncomfortable and to be evocative. That's how I feel throughout the tracklist, slightly uncomfortable but on the edge of my seat. I loved the juxtaposition of HIC and the cover of Viva Las Vegas - what a wacky transition and closer.
Really outstanding work. 5/5

Pretty alright punk.