I was a huge fan of The Dead Kennedys in the eighties. They represented the ultimate punk group for me. Sex Pistol never said me much. Dead Kennedys' output was musically experimental while still being awesome punk and the lyrics were political, harsh and often spot on when dealing with all things sick in America and beyond. Their vinyl releases contained all sorts of extra material like posters, massive booklets and flexi discs. It was nothing short of awesome to dig your way through a brand new Dead Kennedys release.
Not surprisingly, I felt devastated when I heard the news that the band had split in 1986. The band continued on later without singer Jello Biafra, but however much I love Klaus Flouride's bass playing, it just has got nothing to do with Dead Kennedys without Jello. Jello has done lots of various shit since then and some of it has been really good, but not until he formed Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine has he found that true spark that makes it all feel 100% right.
The Guantanamo School of Medicine sounds like a brand new 2013 version of The Dead Kennedys. Playful punk, skillfully performed with lots of ideas and with all those turns and twists that made Dead Kennedys the best punk group in history. This new album has a very happy sound with great melodies and it could even be described as punk you can dance to.
The lyrics are still very much Jello Biafra like we've always known him. Some of it is much too left-wing for my taste, but still I've always loved a good bashing of politicians, laws, society and all and everything with too much power.
The packaging is even like in them good old days. The quality 180g vinyl record came with a large collage of photos, newspaper snippets and all lyrics. Also included was badges, stickers, a poster and a download code for a digital download including 4 bonus remix tracks.
This new Jello Biafra album is fucking awesome. I would love to see them performing it live here in Denmark sometime, especially because I was too young to ever get to see The Dead Kennedys before they split back then.
What would Jello do? He would kick some major ass with the The Guantanamo School of Medicine!
Rating: 
Band: Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Record Title: White People And The Damage Done
This Release: 2013
Record Format: LP
Record Label: Alternative Tentacles
Content Type: Record Review
Language: 
Updated: 2013-04-21 18:59
Created: 2013-04-20 15:11
