Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Jello Biafra
&
The Guantanamo School of Medicine
O2 Academy Birmingham 5th August 2011


The Return of the Claw

Now if I ruled the world my first decree would be to make it an illegal act for anyone to review a new record or a gig separately. In my dysfunctional f**ked up dystopia the vinyl act and the live action should be inextricably linked, spoken of in a single breath, forever entwined, never apart. Call me a fascist, call me a Stalinist, call me a sad old tosser. But it is the only true way. Or is it?

Standing here at The Academy 2 in Birmingham waiting for the boy Biafra it's apparent that: "There's something strange going on tonight, something going on that's not quite right". The geezer at the front of the stage hanging onto the barrier bedecked in a WIRE T shirt knows exactly what I mean. There's a strange otherworldliness buzz in here - people are edgy - pissy - in need of an injection of caffeine or nicotine - alcohol just isn't doing it. There's a row of large flat screen TVs nailed up high on the venue wall they are on a constant roll; advertising the up and coming events at the O2. October 14th its indie band Blah; happy cheesy heads with cute hair cuts smile back. October 16th it's the turn of rock band Blee; serious heads with long locks grimace a reply. Then on the 25th of October its Gary Moore - GARY MOORE! Gary Moore died back in Feb of this year. Their showing adverts for gigs in 2009! There's nothing strange going on here at all. It's just that for a moment I'd forgotten, we're living in the ERA OF THE IDIOT.

And so to "Enhanced Methods of Questioning", the second release by Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine. Is it an Extended Play? Is it a Long Player? Is it a mini album? While I'm thinking that one over I'll tell you one thing for free, on the day that the US economy went down the proverbial poop chute "Enhanced Methods of Questioning" is a product that's worth every red cent.

Whether you're a musical genius or average Joe when returning to the fray after a long lay off, or with new personnel, the rules change. Two bites at the cherry are required before things start to get damn interesting. The norm that bands start with a dazzling debut followed swiftly by an awkward second don't apply. On returning the norm is skewed to a "feeling your way" first followed by a glorious second. This has been the case with Jello Biafra & "Enhanced Methods". For me there was nothing wrong with the 2009 fully fledged LP "The Audacity of Hype". It was a solid enough return; we got good and reacquainted, things were sweet, but "Enhanced" is a mightily honed step up in combined learning.

The same team as on "Hype" return to musically scorch the earth and hit the targets hard in a massively vitriolic outburst of rage. This time round though the ebbs and flows and detours and deviations are increased to keep you guessing exactly where to next. DOT COM Monte Carlo opens the record with Jello Biafra jabbing a shitty pointy stick into the faces of the San Francisco big shitty planers - "smear them with honey and release a thousand bees". Next "The Cells that will not Die" and it's the turn of the mental meddling scientists to get bodged with the shitty pointy sticky thing - "cover up, intimidate like junkies in denial. The world is flat; it ain't getting warm, no no no no!" It's like Kepone Factory II.

Religious brain washers, political pill poppers and gun toting ex-GI's take up the rest of Biafra's outpourings. But as in those long a go Dead Kennedy days the Biafra's humour is always mightier than the tumour. And this is what truly matters. He doesn't have to try too hard to take the piss cause these fingerlickin chickinsuckin mothertruckin cunts are giving it away.

"Enhanced Methods of Questioning" from 1 to 5 is a precise product; things change with the final track 6 "Deviation Street" which weighs in at a whopping 18 minutes long. It is more like some kind of freakish hybrid than a strict cover of The Deviants track from their 1967 "Ptooff!" debut. Biafra's vocal rambles along throughout the eighteen minutes in a half way house between spoken and sung. Here he places himself in the camp of the deviant, without which he states "we'd all still be living in caves". Is it a manifesto? Is it a credo? Is it an Ideal for living? I don't know, I still haven't worked out whether "Enhanced Methods of Questioning" is an EP, an LP or a mini album. Whatever it is, I'll say it one more time - IT'S WORTH EVERY RED CENT OF YOUR HARD EARNED KA$H.

Whilst I was still pondering these imponderables the Guantanamo School of Medicine took to the stage and took up the cudgels followed swiftly by Jello Biafra in a white Doctors lab coat smeared in blood, but also, and more importantly, with blood on his hands. The claw was reanimated and soon in full action. "The Audacity of Hype" album was given a good old fashioned bending. Layers were slowly shed. The lab coat came off to reveal a star & stripes jerkin. Biafra in Dead Kennedy days was always a man with a thousand tics and a million facial expressions, a trillion years later his stage personae resides somewhere between Marcel Marceau on meth (or just meths) and a transatlantic incarnation of Alexi Sayle.

"New Feudalism" brought Biafra's first incursion into the crowd. The Stars and stripes jerkin was jettisoned for a simple T shirt. "California Uber Alles" got an airing - more incursions into the crowd for surfing. There was banter aplenty between the tracks Mr Obama & Mr Cameron, Vodaphones Tax Bill & Topman's Tax Bill all got a mention. Economic conclusions were drawn. The amount of KA$H that wealthy tax dodgers evade and the deficit were compared and found to be exactly the same. My solar powered calculator had lost power by this time so I was unable to concur or deny.

"Too Drunk to Fuck" brought the mosh closest to epilepsy followed closely by "Holiday in Cambodia". But as Biafra left the stage for a momentary pause it wasn't the scarcity of Dead Kennedy's stuff that was perturbing me. I'd got that strange feeling again, the feeling that something wasn't quite right. I gazed dazed into the back of the geezer in front me. The damp T shirt that was stuck to his back was emblazoned with the words "Enhanced Methods of Questioning Tour 2011". It was only then I realised, after an hour of action they hadn't played any tracks from "Enhanced" yet.

This strange omission was remedied on their return; Biafra now stripped down to only human fur belted out "DOT COM Monte Carlo" and "The Cells that will not Die" in quick fire fashion, before the slow burn mantra of "I Won't Give Up" closed proceedings down.

It's no surprise that Biafra is back in front of a stolid band and firing on all cylinders. The more things have changed the more they have stayed the same. We're in the midst of a long replay of the early eighties. The fat cats are still fat, the poor are still poor but this time we're not only taking the blame we're also picking up the tab. And the politicians, they're much the same, still lying duplicitous careerists motherloving bastards backed by a media that don't give a shit as long as they've got a pair of tits on page 3. The only thing that has changed is the absurdity levels; the bare faced cheek, the brass neck, the hypocrisy of these people. They are the ridiculous ones that need to be lampooned. More than ever the world is a better place with Jello Biafra with the bit between his teeth. We're all f*cked people! It's just some of us are going down laughing.


"Enhanced Methods of Questioning" was released in May 2011 and is now only £3.49 to download from iTUNES. You will never ever hear me promote "the download" ever again, so listen carefully GO DOWNLOAD IT! PS if you go for the download you will not get the free quintessential and essential poster. Go vinyl, go here instead.