Dead Kennedys – Let’s Lynch the Landlord (1980)
The Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” is one of the great debut LPs.
I can remember hearing it on John Peel in the summer of 1980 and then having it flown out to Hong Kong for me as the ideal Christmas gift. My cousin, who was the vinyl ”mule” for these purposes, didn’t quite realise what he was letting himself in for and I fear his Christmas was rather ruined by the genius of Jello Biafra and the fellas on near constant rotation (apart, of course, from the Basement 5 – of which more, later).
I will post further Dead Kennedys ditties in due course and it was tricky not to go with Holiday in Cambodia, California Uber Alles or Kill The Poor. Or, indeed, the DK’s definitive reading of the Rawhide theme tune.
But you just have to love this. Relentless buzzsaw guitars, a twangy guitar solo and a lyric with a timeless message that unites nations and continents.
LP version then a live cut – not sure of the date!
Another great choice – Kill the Poor would perhaps have been a touch controversial in ternms of benefit reform. I have fond memories of “Too Drunk…” (keep it clean in case of younger viewers). I would play it again and again in my bedroom at top volume trying to work out if my Dad was deliberately ignoring it to avoid argument or genuinely could not make out a word of the lyrics – I still suspect the latter.