Dead Kennedys New Merch DK40 3-CD Set

The Dead Kennedys will release a three-CD set on April 26 on Manifesto Records. The three-CD set features amped-up live versions of all their classic tracks, free from the constraints of the recording studio. The digital version to follow on May 10.

Disc 1 captures the Dead Kennedys at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1982. The 13-song disc includes “Holiday in Cambodia,” “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” and “Too Drunk to Fuck.” Disc 2 features the Dead Kennedys at Alabama Halle in Munich, Germany, also in 1982, with an 18-track set, including “Man With the Dogs,” “Police Truck” and “Chemical Warfare.” Disc 3 is set at the Farm in San Francisco in 1985, with 16-songs that include “Soup Is Good Food,” “Stars And Stripes Of Corruption” and “MTV Get Off The Air.”

The band formed in 1978 when East Bay Ray’s ad in The Recycler attracted singer Jello Biafra. They were soon joined by bassist Klaus Flouride; guitarist 6025 and drummer Ted. D.H Peligro soon took over the rule of the drum chair. The band has four studio albums, one extended play, two live albums, three compilations and one demo.

Biafra, who is the former lead singer and featured on all 3-discs basically helped cement the legacy but left in 1986. He took over the record label Alternative Tentacles and was found liable for breach of contract, fraud and malice in withholding a decade’s worth of royalties from his former bandmates. Despite the history, The Dead Kennedys have since toured and have moved on. Biafra went forward with his solo career.

The nostalgic release of this 3-disc memento features heavy punk songs where Biafra rages on with his political fist toward the “man” so to speak and righteous anger toward the wealth and greed of politicians. The first single, “California Über Alles,” features pounding drums, throbbing bass and jagged guitar lines, Biafra lays into then-and-future California Governor Jerry Brown and the hippy dream. The song includes such memorable lines as “It’s the suede denim secret police / They have come for your uncool niece.”

Paradiso (December 5, 1982):
01. Moral Majority
02. Am the Owl
03. Life Sentence
04. Police Truck
05. Riot
06. Bleed For Me
07. Holiday in Cambodia
08. Let’s Lynch the Landlord
09. Chemical Warfare
10. Nazi Punks Fuck Off
11. Kill The Poor
12. We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now
13. Too Drunk To Fuck

Skateboard Party (December 13, 1982):
01. Skateboard Talk+Intro Noise
02. Man With The Dogs
03. Forward to Death
04. Kepone Factory
05. Life Sentence
06. Trust Your Mechanic
07. Moral Majority
08. Forest Fire
09. Winnebago Warrior
10. Police Truck
11. Bleed For Me
12. Holiday In Cambodia
13. Let’s Lynch the Landord
14. Chemical Warfare
15. Nazi Punks
16. We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now
17. Too Drunk to Fuck
18. Kill the Poor

The Farm (May 25, 1985):
01. Darren’s Mom
02. Goons of Hazard
03. Hellnation
04. This Could Be Anywhere
05. Soup Is Good Food
06. Chemical Warfare
07. Macho Insecurity
08. A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch
09. Forest Fire
10. Moon Over Marin
11. Jack-O-Rama
12. Encore
13. Stars and Stripes of Corruption
14. Second Encore
15. MTV Get Off the Air
16. Holiday In Cambodia