Pitchfork: Dead Kennedys' Debut to be Reissued

Like a slap in the face or a kick to the head, the Dead Kennedys' Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is just as healthy for you as it was a quarter-century ago. On October 25, Manifesto Records will reissue the classic album for its 25th anniversary with a bonus DVD of unreleased archival material.

The edition will include the original album and artwork, while the 55 minute DVD features some of the earliest known live footage of the San Francisco foursome performing chestnuts such as "California Uber Alles", "Kill the Poor", "Holiday in Cambodia", and "Viva Las Vegas". The video half of the package also includes new interviews with band members East Bay Ray and Klaus Flouride, as well as with Ninotchka (Jello Biafra's ex-wife), Oliver DiCicco (who engineered Fruit and other Dead Kennedys albums), and Iain McNay, co-founder of Cherry Red Records. Cherry Red, of course, released the original version of Fresh Fruit way back when, though if we were interviewing McNay, we'd probably just ask whether he gets a lot of mail from confused Fugazi fans.

Jello Biafra's absence from the DVD is no surprise, since relations between the singer and his former bandmates have been poor since the late-90s beginnings of a bitter legal battle over royalties, control of licensing rights, and the band's back catalog. Though Biafra lost decisively in court last year, our sympathies lie more with him than with the rest of the band, if only because Ray, Flouride and drummer D.H. Peligro have been touring as "The Dead Kennedys" without really publicizing that, oh yeah, some dude named Jeff Penalty is now the band's vocalist. At least punk rockers and INXS fans finally have something to talk to each other about.

If this sounds like a good time-- hey, it takes all kinds-- you can catch the Penalty-led DKs at these dates:

11-03 Detroit, MI - IROCK
11-04 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater (Riot Fest)
11-05 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Club
11-17 New York, NY - Irving Plaza