Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Punk Pur, zum Teil anstrengend zu hören und mit provokanten zeitkritischen Texten. Aber muss Punk nicht so sein? Es sind 45 geballte Power die den Stil solide spiegelt.

It’s an electric 4.5, and I'm gonna bump it up to a 5, though not without a few "flaws".

I’ve heard of Dead Kennedys, but I’ve never actually HEARD Dead Kennedys – I vaguely knew about their status in punk rock before listening, but it really only hit me right before listening about just insanely bold it is to make that the name of your band in the late 70s / early 80s. It set a tone that immediately got matched by the first track, and never really looked back.

I can compare this pretty handily to The Clash’s debut album in terms of pacing and instrumental energy – both of them jump right out of the gate, and have pretty long stretches of just breakneck speed, covering a variety of topics. This album goes even fucking faster though, and that energy is hard to put into words. However, I think this album does suffer from chasing that energetic high a little too much – it’s not that it can’t maintain it, because it definitely does, and to a more consistent and arguably more satisfying degree than The Clash’s album (still not over “Police & Thieves” railroading the pace of that album). It maintains it, but at the sacrifice of the lyrical quality.

This is an album full of biting political satire, most of which is certainly based in real anger, and a general desire to actually do something about it instead of sitting around on one’s ass. However, at varying points in the album, I think that satire loses some of that fire & that bite, and turns into more of a gripe-filled chomp, or something so over the top that it just feels cheesy to the point where the song loses its focus (most disappointingly done by “I Kill Children” – not a bad track, though!).

There’s other moments throughout the album that add up to ALMOST knock this down to a 4 for me – a few tracks honestly go TOO fast vocally for my tastes, some of them don’t feel as cohesive instrumentally (but it’s never on the guitar, though), and that hard-R N-word on “Holiday in Cambodia”, for as much as I understand the intent and impact of its usage in the song (and that censoring it in any way would be a disgrace to the idea of “punk” in the late 70s/early 80s), simply cannot be overlooked or excused. That track still slaps though, sue me.

As a whole, this is an electric 33 minutes – there’s a few too many things that add up for me to give this a pure, flat 5, but make no mistake; I highly recommend this. Its lyricism, for the most part, still rings pretty true in 2024 (Let’s Lynch the Landlord is ESPECIALLY timely with the CEO thing, but “fascist California” never really came to pass like that), the instrumentals are insanely energetic, and it’s just a rollercoaster of an album. No problems with bumping it up to a 5.

Remember downloading this form Limewire and listening to it so much at uni. Still love it. Melodies and messages and a sense of humour.

I had fond memories of the Dead Kennedys. However, I must have forgotten how punky they are. This is particularly evident on this album. It's definitely fun at a wild party in between. Right now it is too exhausting for me.
3/5

Some fun punk. I have always enjoyed It's a Holiday in Cambodia, but for some reason it sounded different to me this time around. Maybe I have been listening to a different version.

Certainly I just HAD to hear such great tunes as “I Kill Children” and “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” before my demise. They get a point for staying on tempo at such a breakneck speed, and at least the ‘songs’ are short.

Fantastic album that still holds up really well. I was a huge fan of punk when I was younger and this album was the first that drew me into the hardcore scene over the pop-punk style that was popular at the time.

Kort og godt! Gode sangtitler 😄

Crazy energy bomb. Loved it all the way through. Maybe the other album was better but that's mostly songs from this one so...

Clever, punk, political, one of the most exciting albums I've heard

I saw the Dead Kennedys at this weird little gymnasium in SLC. Got smashed up against the stage for most of the show while my friends were either in a mosh pit or floating around the outside. I was wearing my favorite metallic orange skinny tie and a shitty thrift store suit. Someone tries to choke me or hang me by grabbing my tie, I couldn't see them and I decided I could escape by whipping my head around like a dog that doesn't want to e on a leash, all the while screaming Chemical Warfare into the mic the Jello pushed in the faces of us all getting smashed into the stage. The tie itself was finally unleashed but I didn't really care, that was he best night of my young life up to that point.

My friends had similar tales.

Hands down my favorite punk album ever and I think most of these themes still resonate. My deadhead friends couldn't listen to 5 minutes of this without yelling at me to turn it off, but that was their loss.

1.5

My husband thinks I’m being generous with three stars, but my socialist inner rebel finds appeal in this stuff, even if it gets musically monotonous after awhile.

While it suffers from the same issues as most punk albums, that being extremely repetitive, it also has plenty to stand out against its other famous punk acts. Not only are Jello Biafra's vocals iconic, charming, and really suits the lyrics that are coated in so much irony they feel more earnest than any other punk act, and the alien-like guitar playing lends itself well to it all. Songs blend, but you're never gonna feel like resting while listening to this, instead you're gonna feel like causing havoc, and other iconic punk acts from the time can't say that, I feel.

Fuck yes.

4.5/5

I had high hopes for this album, as I am a fan of punk rock. However, I was disappointed by the lack of originality and creativity in this debut album by the Dead Kennedys. The songs sound like a poor imitation of the Sex Pistols. The music is fast and loud, but also monotonous and repetitive. The vocals are shrill and annoying, and the production is poor and amateurish. The only song that stands out is “California Über Alles”, which is a catchy and sarcastic satire of the hippie culture and the political situation in California. The rest of the album is forgettable and boring, and the final track, a cover of “Viva Las Vegas”, is a terrible way to end the album. It is a mockery of the original song, with distorted vocals, distorted guitars, and distorted lyrics. I would not recommend this album to anyone, unless they are a hardcore fan of the Dead Kennedys or punk rock in general. I give it 2 out of 5 stars.

Dude, I'm here for the sentiment, their attitude, and energy, but Jello Biafra sounds like they spliced Bryan Ferry and the dude from The B-52's' vocal chords together in a back alley operation.

I don't like it, it's just so chaotic and noisy.

One of my favourite punk albums of all time. Love the energy and humor throughout this, makes some excellent political points too. There are very intense live performances of most of this album on youtube - check them out!

nice fresh fruits