DEAD KENNEDYS Bedtime for Democracy LP

1986. Reagan's second term is wrapping up, the hardcore scene is fracturing, and Jello Biafra decides the appropriate send-off is a 21-track blitz of bile, satire, and surf guitar. Bedtime for Democracy is the Dead Kennedys signing off, and they do it loud.

Their final studio record before the long, ugly legal battle that would define the band's legacy as much as anything East Bay Ray ever played, Bedtime lands somewhere between a greatest hits of grievances and a punk variety show. Shorter, faster, angrier than Frankenchrist, it chews through targets like televangelists, conformist punks, and American complacency with the kind of precision that makes you wonder why satire ever went mainstream. This is the record for people who read the liner notes.

Standard black vinyl LP. For fans of the whole American hardcore diaspora, this one is essential catalogue.

Fans of: Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Bad Brains, Subhumans, The Adicts, GBH, Minor Threat