Alternative Tentacles US Vinyl & CDs

Review: You may have heard that former Dead Kennedys frontman and now multi-project artist Jello Biafra leads his very own School Of Medicine, inspired by the pioneering medicinal discoveries of his antecedents Iggy Pop and hip-hop greats such as Hieroglyphics and Digital Underground. The Audacity Of Hype, the School's first patent, was the logical chemical synthesis that made up these ingredients; fiery, crunchy, high-velocity, hardcore punk and post-punk, with a dashing of metal drumming and political emphasis on "Homeland insecurity". Now reissued via Alternative Tentacles a full fifteen years later - cracking stuff!

Review: Dead Kennedys' best frontman Jello Biafra's onetime collaboration with the band D.O.A. produced this hardcore punk gem - 'Last Scream Of The Missing Neighbours' - which fused the best of both bands' sounds, while namechecking every popular and/or political scandal at the time, such as Willie Horton, the Iran-Contra Affair, Oliver North, and the US crack epidemic. Just six tracks on this indelible EP, now reissued via original label, Alternative Tentacle do well to satirize the powers that be in true punk fashion, culminating in the 14-minute military meat-grinder that is 'Full Metal Jackoff'.

Review: Revered as one of U.S. hardcore punk's most humorous, yet politically outraged projects, Last Scream Of The Missing Neighbours is a gem by Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and the band D.O.A., in a collaborative effort that spans every blood-boiler from the gentrification of Colorado to the then nascent (putatively C.I.A.-fuelled) crack epidemic. Less concerned with a piercing sonic aesthetic than getting its lyrical point across, this mini-album was a conduit and awareness-raising exercise in the battle against capitalist doublespeak and is best known for its culminating in the closing fourteen-minute dramaturgy 'Full Metal Jackoff', decrying everything from racial scapegoating to the U.S. military-everything complex.

Review: Vancouver punks Nomeanso were already a decade into their career when they released Wrong, their fourth studio album, in 1989. It quickly became a cult classic and remains, to this day, the finest example of the Canadian band's distinctive take on punk - albeit with a dash of "math rock" malevolence thrown in. Underscored by oodles of energy, it's a tidal wave of sweat-soaked, up-tempo drumming, gnarled punk-rock riffs, impassioned vocals and ten-ton bass. Highlights include - but are in no way limited to - the brilliantly titled 'Brainless Wonder', the insatiably funky 'Big Dick', the low-slung headiness of 'Rags and Bones' and the squally 'All Lies'.

Review: The fourth full-length LP by Canadian punk rockers Nomeansno comes as their most popular album to date, a whirlwind of post-hardcore, heavy metal and jazzcore influences that harks back not only to nineties interpretations of post-punk, but also fresh renditions and fusions of the sound in the 21st Century. Pondering catacylsmic themes and cryptic modern aporias, this is a veritable walloping in sound from the Vancouver troupe.

Review: With the absolute debacle that is the present day US political landscape, Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra has opted to press his The Guantanamo School of Medicine (originally digital-only) single 'Blunder Blubber' to wax. Originally penned to mark the passing of right-wing scare monger Rush Limbaugh and recorded in 2020 during the Tea Party Revenge Porn sessions, the track served as a major critique of the rise of right-wing extremism, tracing its roots back to Limbaugh's influence and the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine under President Reagan in 1987, a policy change that allowed one-sided political commentary on public airwaves, which Biafra perceives as the floodgates opening to the MAGA mayhem of today, with the vocalist even noting - "I wrote [the song] back when Clinton was president, seeing the writing on the wall. I was hoping never to use it, but we had no choice but to update and perform it now." On the flip is the debut single from The November 3 with their aptly titled 'I Fucked A Republican', dropped during the 2020 Republican National Convention. As both groups and the American left at large are largely shocked and deflated that they're right back where they were this time four years ago, it appears a doubling down of refusal is now vital with this double whammy of sonic middle-fingers now finding a tangible, vinyl home to keep their message permanent and enduring in such worrisome times.

Review: Tumor Circus were the ugly, unpleasant and utterly unhinged meeting of the minds between Dead Kennedys' frontman Jello Biafra, Charlie Tolnay (King Snake Roost, Grong Grong, Lubricated Goat) and members of noise rock merchants Steel Pole Bathtub. Releasing only one self-titled LP in 1991, the project has gone on to become the stuff of avant-garde noisecore legend, with the album's sweetest ditty 'Meathook Up My Rectum' reissued on one-sided etched 7" complete with B-side etching and new artwork all designed by horror author/filmmaker Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed).