Dead Kennedys revive to preach punk politics
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 8, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 Space Baby The Dead Kennedys continue to bring their
political punk to the world.
By Shana Dines
Daily Bruin Reporter
The raw, old school sounds of guitar-driven punk bands that are
still popular today can all attribute the Dead Kennedys as an
influence. As one of America’s most influential bands hailing
from San Francisco, they relate themselves to the Ramones and the
Sex Pistols.
Despite breaking up in the mid-80s, they have reunited and are
touring again, making an appearance at the Key Club on Sunset
tonight.
Promising to play all of the classics and favorites, guitarist
East Bay Ray is excited to be on the road again. He will be joined
onstage by original bassist Klaus Flouride and drummer D.H.
Peligro. Replacing former frontman Jello Biafara is lead singer
Brandon Cruz from the punk band Dr. Know.
“Though the vocals have changed, the message has stayed
the same,” Ray said.
Those messages are just what made the Dead Kennedys so famous in
the 70s and 80s. Preaching through their chosen media of music,
almost every song was politically charged with ideas of social
change. Some of the main ideals promoted were anti-violence and
tolerance. They told fans to think for themselves, question
everything, be wary of hypocrisy, and not watch too much TV.
Some of the songs with these messages include “Anarchy for
Sale,” “Stars and Stripes of Corruption,” and
“MTV ““ Get Off the Air.” There were, of course,
other songs in their repertoire that were not as serious.
“Too Drunk to Fuck,” for example, one of the most
famous and most oft parodied songs, does not carry any deeper
underlying meaning.
Differences of lyrical depth aside, all of their songs contain
the hallmark sound of rough vocals, loud guitars and dark
rhythms.
The political songs are still the most important to the Dead
Kennedys, however. During the more than 20 years off the road, band
members report that they have not lost their ideals. They recognize
that it is not a matter of what you say or how you dress, but it
really comes down to how you act to change things in the world.
“Over time, my philosophies have become a little more
fine-tuned,” Ray said. “It’s all what you do to
help make life better for the people around you. That’s how
the real evolution of society is going to change.”
There have, no doubt, been many changes over the years between
the time the Dead Kennedys first started raising debate and the
situation today. One of the things Ray found notably missing the
most from the shows was the variety of the 70s. By the time the 80s
rolled around, he explained, the different styles became much more
stratified. He misses the variety in the shows and in the music,
but with such a strongly thriving fan-base, there is little else to
complain about.
Old and new fans have been flocking to the shows and Ray has
noticed a positive change in them. They have been more intelligent
than the audiences were in the 80s.
“One of the reasons we broke up in the mid-80s was because
there was a violent element in the audience,” Ray said.
They broke up in January of 1986, but released a CD of singles
and b-sides in 1987. Then, after a long break from the Dead
Kennedys, Ray, Peligro and Flouride released the CD “Mutiny
on the Bay,” a high quality recording of an old live show.
They wanted to release something that sounded better than the
various bootlegs that had been in underground circulation.
“We were doing a record release party and D.H. got the
idea, “˜why don’t we get up on stage and play a couple
tunes as a surprise,'” Ray said.
After some rehearsals with Brandon Cruz at the head of the band,
Ray said that rumors started spreading.
Before long, there were crowds of people listening outside of
their practices. They took that as positive feedback and decided to
return to the road.
The Dead Kennedys have been touring since November, but have
been taking it easy all along the way. Rather than burning out,
they have been traveling for only a week or two at a time. In
between the regional excursions, they have returned to their homes
in the Bay Area to relax.
Ray said that they have no plans for any new recordings in the
future, however, he did not deny the possibility.
For now, they are concentrating on the known classics that were
written to change the world over twenty years ago and the favorites
that keep the fans coming to their shows today.
