Never Breathe What You Can't See
Jello Biafra
Producer: Marshall Lawless, Ali G. North
Alternative Tentacles, 2004
1 CD
Catalogue #: VIRUS 300
EAN: 0721616030020
UPC: 721616030020
You save: 20%
Jello Biafra/The Melvins: Jello Biafra; Saddam Disney (guitar, drums, percussion); Osama Benet Milosevic (guitar); George W. McVeigh (bass instrument).
Additional personnel: Adam Jones (guitar); Wendy D-Matik, Ali G. North (background vocals).
NEVER BREATHE WHAT YOU CAN'T SEE pairs underground icon and former Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra with the grungy alternative metal band the Melvins (the Washington-based group that influenced Mudhoney and Nirvana). Biafra and the Melvins are a great combination: the album is quick-witted and topically insightful, yet balanced by crunchy Black Sabbath-inspired riffs and gleeful hard-rock posturing. There are equal doses here of thoughtful irony, social critique, and sheer head-banging fun, and the result far exceeds both Biafra's often long-winded spoken-word outings and the Melvin's dark sludgefests.
Biafra has long been one of music's most uncompromising spokesmen, and his special knack for skewering public figures, politicians, and the shallower aspects of American culture is in full flower on this project. "The Lighter Side of Global Terrorism" ridicules post-9/11 "heightened security" in the U.S. via a character sketch of an airport security guard. "Islamic Bomb" calls the Bush administration to task on foreign policy, while "Yuppie Cadillac" is a glorious dose of nose-thumbing at the trappings of wealth and social status. Biafra's trademark sneer and whine complement the Melvins' heavy thunder, bringing together two sides of subversion: acerbic lyrical wit, and the visceral assault of heavy rock.
Tracklist
Jello Biafra
Outspoken former San Francisco mayoral candidate and punk rock gadfly Jello Biafra formed the highly influential band the Dead Kennedys in the late 1970s. Following that band's contentious dissolution, Biafra became a fierce advocate of numerous left-wing causes, with First Amendment and free speech issues being a particular passion due to the DK's many censorship battles. He began a serious spoken-word career in the mid 1980s chronicling his many adventures in politics, music, and activism. As a musician, Biafra's post-Dead Kennedys career is marked by a series of collaborations with artists that include the Melvins, Ministry, and NoMeansNo, among others. He continues to run the record label Alternative Tentacles.
