Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death

Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death by Dead Kennedys

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Track for track and album after album, the Dead Kennedys were the most relentlessly political and controversial stateside punk rock band to gain much public notoriety. Originally released in 1987, Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death collects 17 of the band's singles, compilation tracks, and rarities spanning the eight years they played together. This is a wide and deep collection of favorites like "California Über Alles" and "Holiday in Cambodia," but the real reason to pick up this disc is the more obscure and rare material. From 1979, "Night of the Living Rednecks" has hyperactive mouthpiece Jello Biafra relating a tale of being chased by irate rednecks while the rhythm sections jams. Their version of "I Fought the Law" rewrites it into a true-to-life murder ballad, while rippers like "Life Sentence," "Insight," "Pull My Strings" and "Straight A's" are off the map unless you were lucky enough to pick up the original singles or compilations that they're pulled from. And "Kinky Sex Makes the World Go 'Round" is Biafra at his sarcastic best, as he tells of one corporate head instructing another on the economic necessity of a new war. The DKs were a truly important and relevant band, and Give Me Convenience provides 17 livid reasons why. Boy, could we use them now. --Carl Hanni