Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables Tracklist
DK’s debut album, released in 1980, is considered a landmark in the hardcore punk genre. With songs offering a searing satirical take on just about everything from war to mental illness, the record set the stage for the political, humorous bent of the music made by the scores of bands this record would inspire.
The album blends surf rock with the fastest, hardest sounding punk made up to that point to create possibly the creepiest album ever to come out of the Bay Area. The album art is a photograph of a protest which took place following the death of the San Francisco politician and activist, Harvey Milk. Rioters set on fire several police cars, as seen in the image.
The album exists in several versions, each with a unique album cover, the most common release being used here for the track listing. Many early ‘80s copies featured “Police Truck” between “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” and “Drug Me.” “Police Truck” is thus featured here as an unnumbered track. It would later find more widespread album release on Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death. Additionally, a release in 1980 by Cherry Red added “Too Drunk To Fuck” to the album, so it is featured here as well.
“Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” Q&A
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What have the artists said about the album?
In a 2017 interview with PunkNews, Jello Biafra touched on the release of Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables:
It definitely made a splash in England and Europe, because we already made one with the “California Uber Alles” and “Holiday in Cambodia” singles. But in America, hardly any underground punk band had ever been able to make an album. People didn’t have money then. There were only so many dollars to go around. So, when the Plugz recorded and album, they recorded it live and other bands did a show to get enough money so they could make the record because it was a victory for the whole scene- just that somebody got something out. It was at that level.
He continues:
It occurred to me years after Dead Kennedys was gone, how deep and important method acting has played in my lyrical style. I have all these you-are-there very visual scenarios. And trying to say things in a different ways. “We could have another song about how bad nuclear war is, but can we say it in a different way? What about from the Pentagon’s view? Even the Carter admission is talking about this Neutron Bomb that kills people but doesn’t harm valuable property…” Aha! “Kill the Poor was born!”
