Published on Jul 4, 2003
Jello Biafra – a.k.a. Eric Boucher, a.k.a. the former lead
singer for the seminal punk band Dead Kennedys – is the kind of man
you will either love or hate. Opinionated, yet well-versed, he is
guaranteed to either piss you off or make you want to site down
with him, buy a round or two of beer (but no Coors – I’ll explain
in a minute), and just chat about world events.
I fall in the second camp – in fact, I’ll even go so far as to
extend that offer to Biafra the next time he’s in the Chicagoland
area and has a few hours to kill. Like the late Frank Zappa, Biafra
is a strong supporter of freedom of speech and of expression, and
has paid dearly for his beliefs thanks to the infamous trial
involving the Dead Kennedys album
Frankenchrist and the inclusion of a poster of H.R. Giger’s
“Penis Landscape”.
No More Cocoons, the first spoken-word release from Biafra,
only begins to touch on the raw nerves that resulted in his being
tried and acquitted (thanks to a hung jury – no pun intended), and
dares to spit in the face of conventional wisdom and thought. In
truth, it’s not quite as caustic as I expected it to be, which was
a little disappointing – after all, Biafra is meant to be a social
critic, not a stand-up comedian, witty though his insights are at
times. Yet it is an intriguing listen which makes the time fly – at
least for those who find themselves agreeing with what Biafra has
to say.
Criticize punk music all you want (I happen to like it a lot),
but don’t call Biafra ignorant. The piece “What Reagan Didn’t Know”
dares to cut down “The Gipper” by suggesting he was merely a pawn
in the political game – and backs it up with example after example,
including reaching back to Reagan’s days as an actor. You have to
give Biafra credit for doing his homework. The same goes for “Talk
On Censorship / Letter To Tipper Gore,” which shish-kebabs the
religious right-wing leaders and their backing of the Parent’s
Music Resource Center – which happen to be the filthiest four words
in the English language, in my book. Biafra even dares to name
corporations which quietly sponsored the work of the PMRC –
including Coors Brewery Biafra’s response to a letter from Tipper
Gore to
Creem magazine shows that the man has class – he attacks the
beliefs and views, but not the person… at least not
too maliciously, anyway.
Yet it is easy to understand how Biafra could be misunderstood
just by reading the titles of these pieces. When I saw the title
“Why I’m Glad The Space Shuttle Blew Up,” I wondered what I might
have gotten myself into. (This piece was written and performed
after the Challenger disaster, not the recent explosion of the
Columbia.) Yet Biafra presents his case in such a way that you
understand his point of view, even if you may not agree with it.
There is something to be said for someone who can maintain your
respect while you disagree with their opinions. Likewise, “Vietnam
Never Happened” is less of a denial of the war than a scathing
commentary on what happened while placing it in a theme-park
setting.
I could say the one thing I wasn’t too fond of on
No More Cocoons is the constant sound of papers shuffling,
almost making it sound like Biafra had too many notes to work with
and came overprepared. And, yes, I sometimes didn’t like the way
that it sounded like Biafra was just reading off of pages; to me,
his biggest strength is when he talks directly to his audience and
sounds like he’s in the moment. Yet solid positions for debate like
Biafra lays out on this set don’t often come from
spur-of-the-moment flashes of brilliance, so I’m willing to grant
some slack in this department.
I’ll freely admit that I wasn’t originally looking forward to
No More Cocoons, but after just one listen to this set, I
find myself looking forward to hearing other spoken-word offerings
from Biafra. You may think he’s totally off-base with some of his
positions, but
No More Cocoons will leave you with two undeniable truths.
First, Biafra is an excellent debater. Second, this is a set well
worth the time, money and brain power you put into it.