Frankenchrist

by

Dead Kennedys

Edit

To many, this is the album where the Dead Kennedys ended and Jello Biafra's politically charged vision fully took focus. To me, that may be the case, but it's not a bad thing.

Largely a response to Reaganomics and malaise amongst Americans lyrically, musically "Frankenchrist" is something altogether different. In the time they've recorded, a number of trends have come and gone, and the Kennedys seem to absorb bits from new wave and other post-punk movements while somehow maintaining their edge and their sound.

The best pieces are when this push in music and the lyrics are both at their extremes-- morbid, bizarre new wave-ish masterpiece "Soup is Good Food" (about unemployment and the destruction of the middle class), spastic environmentalist punk "Hellnation", white trash lambasts "Jock-O-Rama" (about the culture of high school football) and "Goons of Hazzard" (fairly self-explanatory) all are noteworthy. But as far as sarcastic lyrics and oddball arrangements, very little can possibly compare to the stunning "MTV- Get Off the Air". Lambasting conservative music (meaning not risktaking) being marketed as innovative and force-fed to willing consumers, it somehow succeeds in being both amusing and serious at the same time. And certainly closer "Stars and Stripes of Corruption", a punk summary of Biafra's concerns about the country, is catchy, intelligent, sarcastic and all in all just a blast.

All in all, "Frankenchrist" a great album, and its really no surprise that the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) chose to attack this album. What's perhaps most frightening is how relevant so many songs written about a time seem today. Recommended for punk fans, political thinkers, and people who just like a good record.

This is a good album, but before picking it up check to see that it has the alternative tenticles label on it and not MANIFESTO; In 2001, the money-hungry, washed-up members of the group hijacked their catalogue from Jello's label, Alternative Tenticles, and is selling them on Manifesto records - in newly "remastered" format! Wow, the Kennedys have come a long way haven't they? They also put out a really poor best-of live album and are doing a reunion tour - WITHOUT Jello Biafra, they're original lead singer & songwriter. So anyway, you might want to avoid these rereleases of the DK albums, and refrain from contributing to the group's reign of terror. Jello still has the rights to their debut though.