No Cause for Concern? Issue #7 | March 1983 | Page 23 | Dead Kennedys album review

Dead Kennedys

Plastic Surgery Disasters

Finally, another full-length album from the Dead Kennedys and right on par with their previous releases too. Since "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" their music has gone through slight changes -- a bit more experimental, especially with their intros -- but their lyrics are as hard-hitting as ever. They take digs at the government, the powerful, the powerhungry, the assholes, and even the less threatening members of society too, such as with "Terminal Preppies", "Trust Your Mechanic" (about doctors) and "Winnebago Warrior". The latter is almost a humorous look at the weekend camper ("Littered campgrounds, folding chairs/Feed doritos to the bears/Honey, quick, the polaroid/Winnebago warrior/Brave as old John Wayne/Winnebago warrior/A true yankee pioneer") but cynicism and pessimism overshadow the entire album and the overall result of reading the lyrics is depression. It's their usual cut-down from start to finish sung with neverending seriousness and nowhere do the DKs offer any solution or hope. But then again they've never claimed to. So once again the Dead Kennedys bring us their unique brand of social criticism backed with lots of good music and I recommend it wholeheartedly. You also get a big 28-page booklet filled with collages by Jello and Winston Smith which is very interesting. (The back page has the lyrics in real tiny print but suffer the eye strain and read it anyway.) It's also released domestically so you won't be paying an outrageous import price so it's well worth the money.

-J.F.