Digital Diversion

With a new band and a brand new album, The Audacity of Hype, Jello Biafra brought his unique brand of political-activism-via-punk-rock carnival to the Bottom of the Hill.  Taking the stage flailing like a spastic child to the opening Dick Dale-inspired licks of Strength Thru Shopping, it is clear that Jello hasn’t slowed a beat since his days fronting seminal political punk band, the Dead Kennedys.

With calls from the crowd for DK classics, Jello quickly set the record straight … “this is a new band, we’re going to play new stuff.”  Dressed in hospital scrubs, you’d never guess that the Guantanamo School of Medicine has only a few months of live shows under their belt as they delivered a ferociously tight set which quickly got the crowd to forget about their song requests.

In true form, Jello railed against the political machine; pulling no punches, he lambasted San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Barack Obama while expounding on political issues from health care and the war in Iraq to the California budget crisis.  Between the singing and political commentary, Jello was a wirlwind; miming along with the songs and stage diving just like he did when I first saw him back in 1983.

The setlist included every song from Audacity of Hype plus unreleased tracks Victory Stinks and Dot Com Monte Carlo. Sprinkled throughout the set were Dead Kennedys classics California Uber Alles, Police Truck, Bleed for Me, Holiday in Cambodia, Let’s Lynch the Landlord.  While many in the crowd may have come to hear some classic Dead Kennedys, no one walked away disappointed with the new material.  Ninety minutes and two encores later, the band ended with I Won’t Give Up, an encouraging call to action for the audience to take responsibility for change.

With the political sardonicism and searing guitars but with a heavier and fuller sound courtesy of a dual guitars, the new material sounds like a modern day version of the Dead Kennedys.  The Audacity of Hype is a must-buy for fans of Jello’s early work with the Dead Kennedys!  5/5