Review #19 - Let Them Eat Jellybeans! (1981)

Let Them Eat Jellybeans! is a compilation album including various punk rock bands and some not so punk ones. It was released thorugh Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles record label. It features versions of songs which were unreleased at the time such as Police Story by Black Flag with Dez Cadena on vocals, which was recorded during the Six Pack EP sessions. Also the version of Nazi Punks Fuck Off by the Dead Kennedys on this comp is not available anywhere else. On the cover art we have the all middleclass' favorite person in the whole world (i'll say that loosely) Ronald Reagan! His face was really popularry used on many many punk rock flyers for shows in the 1980's... Heres mr Biafra's liner notes on the backcover of this albummah:































1. Flipper - Ha Ha Ha
A classic indeedy. The bassline is really groovey. The Pixies ripped it off for their song "Debaser". Anyway lets sing along "Isn't life a blast it's just like living in the past, yeah we go downtown to do our shopping and we work in suburbia, well i say hahahahahahaha hohohoho hohehehehehe ahahahaha!!". One of Flipper's most popular songs. It is usually this song which gets used everywhere if they wanna use a Flipper tune. This was featured in the end credits of the movie American Hardcore and this had been on many compilations aswelll

2. D.O.A. - The Prisoner
Really fast song. Not DOA's best ones in my opinion. Still pretty descent.

3. Black Flag - Police Story
Here we gooo. As i said before its DEZ CADENA on vocals so you know it sounds fucking raw! It's about police power and how they use it against people, "walking down the street. i flip them off. they hit me across the head with a billy club. understand we're fighting a war we can't win. they hate us, we hate them. we can't win, no way. nothing i do, nothing i say. i tell them to go get fucked. they put me away."

4. Bad Brains - Pay To Cum
This song is super fast. Can't understand a word HR sings. I try to write them down here as best as i can, imenesibalegabebebabebego, imakealabegabebbagebefai!. These were the first 2 lines, heres what he really sings:

I make decision with precision
Lost inside this manned collision
Just to see that what is to be
Perfectly my fantasy

I came to know with now dismay
That in this world we all must pay
Pay to write, pay to play
Pay to cum, pay to fight

well i got pretty close right??

5. Dead Kennedys - Nazi Punks Fuck Off
On of the best songs ever written. 1234! punk aint to religious cult, punk means thinking for yourself! You ain't hardcore cos you spike your hair, When a jock still lives inside your head

Nazi punks
Nazi punks
Nazi punks-Fuck Off!

every single line means something. All the neo nazis and skinheads i've seen are always around a laaarge group of other fascists, never alone and no one seems to be scared of them. If they fight they never fight by themselves, theres always 10 guys beating up a one guy. And speaking about skinhead violence, why the hell they always wanna start a fight anyway? is that how you have fun? fuck off.

Ten guys jump one, what a man
You fight each other, the police state wins
Stab your backs when you trash our halls
Trash a bank if you've got real balls

You still think swastikas look cool
The real nazis run your schools
They're coaches, businessmen and cops
In a real fourth reich you'll be the first to go

Nazi punks fuck off!!!

6. Circle Jerks - Paid Vacation
The jerks must be the band i've listened to the least of all the most known hardcore punk rock bands of the 80's. Their singer was Keith Morris, the first singer of Black Flag. He left the band to form the Circle Jerks. The meaning of this song is still currently with us. It's angry. It's about going to a war for your country's sake. Well it's not really your country it's who evers in charge there. Your just a tool and you most likely never come back home. I like the guitar riff, but i can't find words to describe it.

7. Really Red - Prostitution
Neverheard of this band before i got this album. The song doesn't make me feel anything. They sing "Prostituuutiooon" many times and yell it aswell, a little bass and drum break and the weirdass guitar riff gets back. Those actually seem to be the only word in the whole song. Blaah

8. The Feederz - Jesus Entering from the Rear
This band was the reason why i got this album in the first place. I wanted to get into the Feederz and didn't seem to find their stuff anywhere. They were hated and despised and with actually good reasons too. I don't enjoy if the lead singer has dead cats hanging in his shirt and throwing dead dog in the audience or smashing a rat with a hammer in regular shows. So Frank Discussion pretty worthless person. Their music is ok though. Well this song is total atheist anthem. Singing how sick of he is about hearing about jesus over and over again. The guitar sounds really cheap and crappy, but in away its quite groovey.

9. Subhumans - Slave To My Dick
Now the Subhumans are another band i haven't gotten that much into yet. It's about a jock type person who just thinks with his balls, with no selfrespect, only getting laid is something. In my class theres few guys like this. Everything they talk about, everything they care about, everything worth going for is always related to their fucking dicks. The chorus sounds cool and the lyrics state "I'm just a slave to my dick, it really makes me sick" kinda sex pistols esque solo.
End of side 1

10. Geza X - Isotope Soap
Geza X was not only a musician, he also focused on west coast punk rock bands and produced albums to bands such as the Germs, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, The Avengers and The Weirdos. His music was quite bizarre and experimental. I have no idea what isotope soap is. He sings about washing his hair with that or something.

11. BPeople - Persecution-That's My Song
Neverheard of this band either. This also belongs to the cast of the NOT punk bands in the album. They use of keyboards here reminds me of old nintendo 8 bit and it's games. But that part gets soon forgotten as the guitar dicks in. I find this boring.

12. Wounds - An Object
This is pretty neat. I like the vocal sound. Sounds it was recorded from a hole where the voice echoes a bit. The music is just kinda rockin' nothing remarcable.

13. The Offs - Everyone's A Bigot
They remind me of the Clash. They have that reggae beat in the background too.
Yeah everyone's a bigot to something, im a music fan(atic) and so on i can say jerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrwakawakabungaaa!!

14. Anonymous - Corporate Food
The who? no, Anonymous. This is another bizarre track on the comp. Using alot of electric keyboard sounds. Bass, drums and totally weird tuned guitar are present aswell. The beginning sounds as if they were squeezing dog toys. The singer yells something i have no clue what.

15. Half Japanese - Fun Again
This band consists of brothers Jad Fair and David Fair. Real noisy track. The vocals are yelled. Don't know the lyrics.

16.Christian Lunch - Joke's on You
Another Devo influenced band on the comp, so they use that keyboard thing.
La la laa la la laa la la

17. Voice Farm - Sleep
This song makes me wanna sleep. The vocals sound so....................zzzzzzzzzzzz

My rating: 7/8