Calling the following built by the San Francisco punk Dead Kennedys a fanbase would be doing a grave injustice to what this band accomplished. Think of a cult without all the negative stereotypes, a religion without its strict rules, a divine deity, and more of a dedicated mass hellbent on simply making sure everyone who needs to hear the band does. Dead Kennedys formed around the imaginative minds of guitarist East Bay Ray and vocalist Jello Biafra, with a rotating cast of bandmates throughout their legendary run in the 80s. While their initial run only lasted a few years, between 1978 and 1986, it was those years that would go on to define the band.
Amid the initial Dead Kennedys fever pitch, the band took a trip to London to be a part of what would become a defining film of the punk scene. URGH! A Music War, directed by Derek Burbidge, features live performances from a plethora of bands ranging from Devo to Dead Kennedys. That brings us to this week’s electrifying edition of Golden Age Thursday. Burbidge caught Dead Kennedys in rare form with a head-spinning performance of “Bleed For Me,” a tune from the band’s sophomore album Plastic Surgery Disasters. This performance captures Dead Kennedys’ stubborn individuality and how, despite inner turmoil and a slew of controversy, the band’s name still squeezes into the Punk history books as one of the defining bands of a lost generation.
