981 Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist (1985)
981 Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist (1985)
Studio Album - Post-Punk
About the Act:
Dead Kennedys were (and are) an American Punk band from San Fransisco. Their initial stint of existence was from 1978-1986. They reformed in 2001 without their former front man Jello Biafra. As well as being a major part of the punk scene, they also spearheaded the sub-genre Hardcore Punk. They were known for their political and social satire in their lyrics, and often controversial elements of obscenity. Their sound evolved to become more sophisticated than other punk bands.
About the Album:
Frankenchrist was the third album by Dead Kennedys. As well as the core band instruments, it uses some other instruments, like keyboard and a trumpet. The album was the centre of a controversy, not for the content, but for an included poster of the picture "Landscape XX" by H. R. Giger, which was deemed obscene enough to have the band taken to court.
My History with this Album:
Last night I retired to bed at the normal sort of hour. On a whim, I decided to listen to the album on headphones in the dark in bed. That was the first time I had heard the album, and possibly the first time I have heard anything by this band.
Review:
The drummer is really good. He is fast, accurate, technical and versatile. On this album he sounds like he was recorded in a garage. The bassist is really good too, again, fast and accurate, and sometimes in time with the drummer. The bass sound is a really crunchy roundwound string sound that makes the bass pop out in the mix. It works really well in this context. The guitarist has a curious tone to the guitar, which makes it really full. It's more jangly than overdriven, and there are a multitude of effects at play. Most of the album makes use of the same guitar tone. The guitarist is, I think, good, but there is often quite a bit of discord at play here, giving a sense of tension to the music. This guitar work dominates the sound of the music. The singer has a trembling shiver in his voice and a dramatic delivery that makes him sound like a demented Elvis.
The tracks are mostly fastish punk with some slower stuff in there. It's a bit like an assault on the senses, loud, energetic, fast and aggressive, and with this unusual guitar sound which is used to good effect, but not necessarily easy to listen to. Like many music fans of around my age, British Punk hold a place of affection in my heart, and I am used to the sounds of the Stranglers, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the Undertones and early Boomtown Rats. American Punk almost totally passed me by, and the sensibility of this is different, the accent is different, the delivery is different, and I'm not sure if I like it. As I listened last night I vacillated between being excited by it and being underwhelmed. The singer sounds a bit like Feargal Sharkey of The Undertones, but it is definitely American in delivery, and content. The songs are mostly satirical or social complaint. There is a song, subtly called "MTV Get Off The Air" for example, but also more satirically "Stars and Stripes of Corruption", and "Jock-o-Rama". The issues tackled are quite American. I can definitely hear the influence of Frank Zappa in both the content and delivery.
Musically, the songs are longer than the other American Punk album I have reviewed (The Ramones), and tend to be more complex, with multiple parts that are different, sometimes returning to a central refrain.
And in the end, I don't really know what I think. There's part of me that enjoyed it an applauds it, but there also part of me that never wants to hear it again. I have to balance those extremes in a score. I would give it 6.8 from the part of me that enjoyed it, and 4 from the part of me that didn't, so I guess the average is...
5.4/10
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenchrist
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