Little Big Town news

With their 10th studio album Mr. Sun just over a month away, ACM, CMA and GRAMMY-winning band Little Big Town debuts the brand new song “Better Love” – available everywhere now. The track’s release coincides with the launch of the digital pre-order for Mr Sun. The band also revealed the lyric video for “Better Love” – watch here.

LBT’s Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook wrote the track alongside Tofer Brown and Audra Mae. “The attitude of this song is mischievous and lands squarely in Karen's wheelhouse. It's fun to sing, too," Westbrook notes.

Fans will get another sneak peek of the new album from Little Big Town on the new series “CMT Summer Camp” with the premiere episode airing now on CMT. The one-hour special includes performances of new music – including “Better Love” – and some of LBT’s greatest hits.

Mr. Sun is set for release on Sept. 16. To celebrate the album’s release, the band will perform on the 2022 Citi Concert Series on TODAY that morning from Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Previously released tracks from Mr. Sun include “Rich Man,” “All Summer,” and lead single “Hell Yeah”, which has amassed more than 30 million global streams since its release.

Physical pre-orders of Mr. Sun are also available, including two hand-signed options from the band – a limited edition, web-store edition tangerine vinyl that includes an 11x11” art card, and a CD that includes a 4x4” art card – in addition to a baby blue vinyl edition of the record. A sky blue vinyl of Mr. Sun will be available exclusively through Barnes & Noble.

The genesis of Mr. Sun was unlike any of their previous albums. Due to the pandemic, the band found themselves off the road and apart for the first time ever throughout their 20-year journey.

“Mr. Sun is intentionally an emotional record that holds hands well with our last album Nightfall,” LBT’s Karen Fairchild shares. “Mr. Sun is focused on better days ahead, the value of friendships and family; it touches on heartbreak and letting go, but it’s full of sunshine and joy.”

This fall, Little Big Town will join Wynonna Judd on select dates of The Judds: The Final Tour.

Tour Dates:

August 27
Nassau, Bahamas
Atlantis Paradise Island

September 3
Taos, NM
Kit Carson Park

September 4
Aspen, CO
Jazz Aspen Snowmass 2022

Track List:

All Summer (Karen Fairchild, Sara Buxton, Madi Diaz, Ashley Ray, Savana Santos, Alysa Vanderheym)

Better Love (Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Tofer Brown, Audra Mae)

Hell Yeah (Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook, Corey Crowder, Tyler Hubbard)

Mr. Sun (Sarah Buxton, Daniel Tashian)

Three Whiskeys and the Truth (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)

One More Song (Tofer Brown, Sean McConnell)

Heaven Had a Dance Floor (Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook, Cary Barlowe, Jesse Frasure)

Gold (Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Trent Dabbs, Luke Dick)

Rich Man (Jimi Westbrook)

God Fearing Gypsies (Karen Fairchild, Nicolette Hayford, Ashley Ray)

Different Without You (Corey Crowder, Jared Mullins, Steven Lee Olsen, Jordan Schmidt)

Whiskey Colored Eyes (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)

Song Back (Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Todd Clark, Sara Haze, Jason Saenz)
Something Strong (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose)

Last Day On Earth (Karen Fairchild, Trent Dabbs, Tommy English)

Friends of Mine (Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook, Foy Vance)

St. Lucia explores a musical 'Utopia' in October

Led by husband-and-wife duo South Africa-born, Jean-Philip Grobler and Germany-born Patti Beranek, synth-pop band St. Lucia, arrives with their new single “Hey Now.” The track is accompanied by a visualizer shot in various locations throughout NYC. The band’s fourth studio album, Utopia, will be released on Oct. 7 via Nettwerk.

St. Lucia has partnered with Nifty Gateway and established Nifty artist, Tormius, to create four NFTs tied to songs from the Utopia album. The first drop is slated for August 16 with the group’s previous single, “Touch,” and “Hey Now” NFTs available for purchase.

“Phew, what a journey ‘Hey Now’ has been on,” says Jean-Philip Grobler. “To me, it is the emotional core of this whole new era of St. Lucia. It’s the song I always play first when I sit down at a piano now. I’m so thankful that these magical chords came to mind one night in the early stages of the pandemic: it feels like somebody patting you on the back or giving you a hug to tell you everything will be ok.”

WATCH + SHARE “HEY NOW” https://youtu.be/uLAM5kpxNsI

On the “Hey Now” visualizer, director Nicole Lipp shares this: “Running around Jean’s old stomping grounds with a Rhodes and a Hi8 camcorder was so much fun. I loved hearing Jean’s stories and memories from all the places we trekked through. ‘Hey Now’ is a really personal and emotional song so it felt right to create a simple, organic, personal visual with to go with it!”

In July, St. Lucia had shared their lead single “Touch” off their forthcoming Utopia. The track was complemented with a music video directed by Nicole Lipp and featuring LGBTQ+ dancer/actor Liv Mai along with Canyon Carballosa, an inspiring advocate for both the LGBTQ+ and autistic communities.

On the group’s forthcoming alnbum, Jean-Philip says, “We at St. Lucia HQ are beyond excited (giddy, in fact) to reveal the next stage of our new musical era: ‘Utopia,’ the full album. Yes, yes, it’s true that we have been stringing you along a little bit, but in our opinion there’s nothing wrong with a little tease, and it might in fact lead to a more satisfying conclusion. ‘Utopia I’ makes up the first half on the album, like a side A, and our upcoming new release, ‘Utopia II,’ makes up the second half of the album, like a side B (remember from the heady days of vinyl?). The journey continues our search for the meaning of ‘Utopia’ through all the joy, sadness, and irony of our modern existence. Is ‘Utopia’ in the extremes, or is it in the tug-of-war between the extremes? Join us over the next few months for more clarity.”

St. Lucia will embark on a six-week tour starting in October, which will mark their first full headline run in four years. The Dutch musician and YouTube star, Blanks, and synth-rocker Caroline Kingsbury, will support on select dates. See below for the full set of dates. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit stlucianewyork.com/live.

"Hey Now" is available on DSPs here: https://stlucia.ffm.to/heynow

Track List:

1. ()

2. Separate World 3. Another Lifetime 4. Rocket On My Feet 5. The Golden Age 6. Memory 7. Take Me Away 8. Touch 9. Gimme The Night 10. )( 11. Shame 12. … 13. Hey Now

Tour Dates:

10/6 - Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theatre * 10/7 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club * 10/8 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts * 10/9 - New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall * 10/11 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Café & Music Hall * 10/13 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club ^ 10/14 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall ^ 10/15 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall ^ 10/16 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues ^ 10/18 - Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater ^ 10/19 - Kansas City, MO @ The Truman ^ 10/21 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre ^ 10/24 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox ^ 10/25 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom ^ 10/26 - Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre ^ 10/28 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades ^ 10/29 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall ^ 10/30 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre ^ 11/1 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory 11/2 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up 11/4 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom 11/5 - Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf 11/7 - Austin, TX @ Emo’s 11/8 - Dallas, TX @ The Studio at The Factory 11/9 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live 11/11 - Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre 11/12 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl 11/13 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre 11/15 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel (SOLD OUT) 11/16 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel (JUST ADDED) * with Caroline Kingsbury ^ with Blanks

The Black Angels finally back with 'Wilderness of Mirrors' next month

Austin psych-rock band The Black Angels' next album Wilderness of Mirrors is scheduled for Sept. 16 through Partisan Records. About "Without a Trace," the band says, "We have always said that if you can rob a bank to our music then we are in the right ballpark. And while we don't condone robbing a bank - the idea alone creates an anticipatable, adrenaline inducing soundtrack for your mind." The new song follows lead single/video “El Jardín,'' which features Austin Amelio from The Walking Dead and stars his son Lev, and “Firefly”, a ‘60s French pop homage which features Thievery Corporation’s LouLou Ghelichkani. Listen / Share: “Without A Trace”

It has been five years since fans have been treated to an album from the band: Alex Maas (vocalist/bassist), Christian Bland (guitarist), Stephanie Bailey (drummer), Jake Garcia (guitarist), Ramiro Verdooren (multi-instrumentalist). They co-produced with Brett Orrison and engineer John Agnello. 

Since forming in 2004 in Austin, TX, the Black Angels remain masterfully true to psych-rock forebears such as Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, Arthur Lee and the members of the Velvet Underground, all of whom are namechecked on “The River.” The band's Levitation Festival, a place for the genre’s past, present and future -- celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. The band will tour North America starting on August 20.

North American Tour Dates

8/20: Las Vegas, NV @ Psycho Las Vegas
9/10: Lexington, KY @ Expansion Music Festival
9/30: Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
10/1: Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck
10/3: St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
10/4: Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
10/5: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
10/7: Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
10/8: Chicago, IL @ House of Blues Chicago
10/9: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
10/10: Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
10/12: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theater
10/13: Montreal, QC @ Corona Theater
10/14: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
10/15: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/17: Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
10/18: Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
10/19: Chapel Hill, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
10/21: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
10/22: Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/23: Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
10/24: Baton Rouge, LA @ Chelsea’s Live
10/30: Austin, TX @ Levitation Festival
11/5: Mexico City, MX @ Hipnosis Festival

Track listing:

1. Without a Trace
2. History of the Future
3. Empires Falling
4. El Jardín
5. La Pared (Govt. Wall Blues)
6. Firefly
7. Make it Known
8. The River
9. Wilderness of Mirrors
10. Here & Now
11. 100 Flowers of Paracusia
12. A Walk on the Outside
13. Vermillion Eyes
14. Icon
15. Suffocation

Photo credit: Pooneh Ghana

Last three albums by Alan Wilder's Recoil to be reissued in October

Mute will put out a series of reissues from RECOIL (Alan Wilder), starting with three long out of print albums – Unsound Methods, Liquid and subHuman – due out on double colored vinyl and CD on October 7.

Unsound Methods (1997), Liquid (2000) and subHuman (2007) are the final three studio albums from Wilder’s Recoil project. These new editions will be available in transparent green/clear, silver, and curacao blue respectively.

Pre-order here. Listen to “Drifting” (from Unsound Methods) here.

Talking about the albums, Wilder recently said, “Having not really listened in full to any of the Recoil albums for many years, the requirement to sit down and closely scrutinize the new test pressings meant that I was obliged to focus on everything once again. It was a surprising and pleasurable adventure to hear the work with fresh ears and I was able, perhaps properly for the first time, to experience all the detail which I had either forgotten about or hadn’t fully appreciated at the time.”

Unsound Methods was Wilder’s fourth album as Recoil and his first release after announcing his departure from Depeche Mode in 1995. Recorded at his Sussex studio, Unsound Methods saw him working with four very different collaborators – Nitzer Ebb’s Douglas McCarthy, New York spoken-word artist Maggie Estep, and vocalists Siobhan Lynch and Hildia Campbell. 

Liquid followed in 2000 and the collaborations continued, this time working alongside Diamanda Galás, Nicole Blackman, Samantha Coerbell, Rosa Torras, The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, and more.

subHuman arrived after a seven-year break and saw Wilder working with vocalists Carla Trevaskis and Louisiana bluesman Joe Richardson whose voice is complimented by guitar and harmonica performances. 

Alan Wilder’s decades in the music industry saw him go from studio assistant to session keyboard player, but it was his 14 years as a member of Depeche Mode where he really honed his skills. Recoil emerged in the mid-Eighties as an antidote to the demands of Depeche Mode.

Wilder explained, “I always kept an open mind about what the Recoil project could be – allowing it to head off in any direction. It reflects my taste in music which involves a certain darkness, plenty of atmosphere, depth of orchestration and collaborative elements. Utilizing various voices writing their own words not only gave the music a varied feel but, indeed, filled the gaps that I couldn’t provide myself while still allowing me to pull the strings and executively produce.”

The first three albums – 1+2 (1986), Hydrology (1988) and Bloodline (1990) – give an indication of his expanding horizons and are currently being remastered for release at a later date.

Liquid Track LP Track listing:

A1. Black Box (Part One)
A2. Want
B1. Jezebel
B2. Breath Control
C1. Last Call For Liquid Courage
C2. Strange Hours
C3. Vertigen
D1. Supreme
D2. Chrome
D3. Black Box (Part Two)

subHuman LP Track listing:

A1. Prey
A2. Allelujah
B1. 5000 Years
B2. The Killing Ground
C1. Intruders
D1. 99 To Life
D2. Backslider

Unsound Methods LP Track listing:

A1. Incubus
A2. Drifting
B1. Luscious Apparatus
B2. Stalker
C1. Red River Cargo
C2. Control Freak
D1. Missing Piece
D2. Last Breath
D3. Shunt

Pre-order the reissues

The return of The Big Pink in September

After returning earlier this year with their new singles “No Angels” and “Love Spins On Its Axis,” The Big Pink have announced third studio album The Love That’s Ours, their first in a decade, due Sept. 30, alongside new single “Rage.”

Marking their first full-length release since 2012’s Future This, the new album was produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Air, Phoenix) and features Jamie T, Jamie Hince (The Kills), Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Ed Harcourt and more.

Speaking about the new album, frontman Robbie Furze said, "Getting to this point has been one of the craziest journeys in my life. I truly thought this day would never come. I got so lost, so confused, went down so many rabbit holes, at times running completely blind, so much so that I nearly lost everything that was ever important to me, everything I ever truly loved. This record symbolises so much, it's my flag on top of the summit. It shows that I finally understand what is truly important. This is the soundtrack of my journey to get here. It was frightening, but beautiful at the same time, full of fun, but hand-in-hand full of terror and sadness. The outcome is that I'm incredibly proud of this work that came out of all of it. I think these may be the best songs that I've ever written, they're certainly the most honest. I would love to thank everyone who was involved in this record because without them we would have never got to this point and maybe I would have not been here at all."

Pre-order The Love That’s Ours here. Listen/share “Rage” here.

“The first album was that classic thing: is this actually happening?” says Robbie Furze, the sole founder member since his musical partner Milo Cordell left in 2013, of The Big Pink’s 2009 breakthrough A Brief History of Love. “There were no expectations, just two best friends working on music together, and to us it felt like an explosion. Then came the second record [Future This, 2012], which we thought we could bash out because we were now so busy on tour, but we soon realised that it didn’t have the same romance or importance of the first record and that affected Milo deeply. I remember doing the first gigs after Future This and thinking: something doesn’t feel right here. We were trying to get the songs written as quickly as possible and we neglected the essence of The Big Pink in the process.”

After a tour of Asia that, in Furze’s words, ‘finished us off,’ he and Cordell decided to step away from music; to avoid the fate of so many bands who fall into the recording-touring treadmill and kill the passion that first opened their hearts along the way. There was no major split, no blazing rows presented to the world as musical differences, just an understanding that it was time to move on.

Milo Cordell concentrated on running his record label Merok, while Furze felt a strong urge to change the backdrop and start anew. “I fell into DJing in Los Angeles. London was on a bit of a downer at the time, especially if you were in a rock band, and there seemed to be a lot of English musicians moving to LA – it was the place to be. A friend of mine was opening a bar in Silverlake called Tenants of the Trees and it felt like the beginning of a movement. It had the beautiful models, the token celebs, the bands I love… There I was with Black Motorcycle Club and Queens of the Stone Age, and I was Robbie from the Big Pink, DJing on Tuesday nights. It was fun.” For a moment Furze considered a future as club owner, before realizing that he really should be getting back to making music of his own.

“And that’s when things started happening again because there are a lot of lost artists in LA; people who have gone out there with their talent and lost their way. LA’s great when you’re on the up but if you find yourself having fallen out of favor it can be hard to get back on the proverbial treadmill. But if you can get those people in the room for a moment, lovely things can emerge from the chaos.”

The Big Pink’s drummer Akiko Matsuura was back on board while Charlie Barker, a visual artist from Nottingham, joined on bass guitar. Furze bounced musical ideas off a network of friends either visiting or resident in Los Angeles including Jamie Hince from the Kills, Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jamie T and Joel Amey from Wolf Alice, the latter suggesting that Furze resurrect The Big Pink to do a US tour with Wolf Alice in 2018.

“That reinvigorated me because going on tour is like going to war: it’s so hard but you feel invigorated by the pain, especially if you are back on a support tour, shlepping your own amplifiers around. It gives you a tangible feeling on what it means to be a musician.”

Track list:

01 - How Far
02 - No Angels
03 - Love Spins
04 - Rage
05 - Outside In
06 - I’m not away to say away
07 - Safe and Sound
08 - Murder
09 - Back To My Arms
10 - Even If I Wanted To
11 - Lucky One

The Cure’s 'Wish' to get deluxe reissue for 30th anniversary

A new deluxe 3CD 45-track edition of The Cure’s Wish includes 24 previously unreleased tracks and four that are new to CD and digital. It will be released Oct. 7 via Rhino Records. The LP format follows in January.

Wish was The Cure’s 9th studio album, released on April 21, 1992. It became the band’s best-selling album, reaching #1 in the UK and #2 in the US, where it was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Alternative Music Album category. The album yielded three top 30 UK pop hits: “High,” “Friday I’m In Love” and “A Letter To Elise.”

CD1 contains the original Wish album, newly remastered by Robert Smith and Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. The second disc features 21 previously unreleased demos, including four studio vocal demos from 1990 and 17 instrumental demos from 1991, nine of which are previously unreleased songs. The third CD in the set features the four tracks from the mail-order-only cassette Lost Wishes released in 1993, which have never appeared on CD or digitally. “Uyea Sound” from that cassette can be heard as a digital single now.

Also included are the previously unreleased song “A Wendy Band” from the 1992 Manor Studio sessions, a previously unheard mix of the epic live favorite “From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea,” as well as five rare 12-inch mixes. Finally, closing the set is an unheard live version of “End” from Paris Bercy in October 1992.

Listening back to the album in 2022, Smith has said, "There’s a side to the album which I had kind of forgotten, a very gentle, yearning thing which is quite beautiful. Trust is one of the best things we’ve ever done, I think, it’s played with great feeling, and To Wish Impossible Things is another gorgeous, melancholic piece… in fact it could well be my favourite song on the record.”

The Cure's European Tour starts in October. For more details, see https://www.thecure.com/shows/

Track listing:
WISH Deluxe Edition 

CD1 Original album

01: Open (6:51)

02: High (3:37)
03: Apart (6:38)
04: From The Edge of The Green Sea (7:44)
05: Wendy Time (5:13)
06: Doing The Unstuck (4:24)
07: Friday I’m In Love (3:38)
08: Trust (5:32)
09: A Letter To Elise (5:14)
10: Cut (5:55)
11: To Wish Impossible Things (4:43)
12: End (6:45)

CD2 Demos – All previously unreleased versions. *Unreleased track.
01: The Big Hand [1990 Demo] (4:38) [final version on B-side to A Letter To Elise 7”]
02: Cut [1990 Demo] aka “Away" (3:31) [final version appears on Wish]
03: A Letter To Elise [1990 Demo] aka “Cut” (5:01) [final version appears om Wish]
04: Wendy Time [1990 Demo] (5:13) [final version appears on Wish]
05: This Twilight Garden [Instrumental Demo] (3:25) [final version on B-side to High 7"]
06: Scared As You [Instrumental Demo] (2:33) [final version on B-side to Friday I’m In Love 12"]
07: To Wish Impossible Things [Instrumental Demo] (3:33) [final version appears on Wish]
08: Apart [Instrumental Demo] (3:38) [final version appears on Wish]
09: T7 [Instrumental Demo] (2:40) *
10: Now Is The Time [Instrumental demo] (2:20) *
11: Miss van Gogh [Instrumental demo] (2:48) *
12: T6 [Instrumental Demo] (3:14) *
13: Play [Instrumental Demo] (2:28) [final version on B-side to High 12"]
14: A Foolish Arrangement [Instrumental Demo] (2:28) [final version on B-side to A Letter To Elise 12"]
15: Halo [Instrumental Demo] (3:06) [final version on B-side to Friday I’m In Love 7"]
16: Trust [Instrumental Demo] (4:02) [final version appears on Wish]
17: Abetabw [Instrumental Demo] (2:26) *
18: T8 [Instrumental Demo] (2:17) *
19: Heart Attack [Instrumental Demo] (2:41) *
20: Swing Change [Instrumental Demo] (2:10) *
21: Frogfish [Instrumental Demo] (2:35) *

CD3: Lost Wishes / Studio Out-Takes / 12” Remixes / Live / Rare / Previously Unreleased.
*Unreleased track **Unreleased version
01: Uyea Sound [Dim-D Mix] (5:28 [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
02: Cloudberry [Dim-D Mix] (5:22) [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
03: Off To Sleep… [Dim-D Mix] (3:47) [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
04: The Three Sisters [Dim-D Mix] (4:12) [from Lost Wishes MC 1993]
05: A Wendy Band [Instrumental] (3:47) *
06: From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea [Partscheckruf Mix] (7:36) **
07: Open [Fix Mix] (6:51) [B-side to High 12"]
08: High [Higher Mix] (7:15) [High 12"]
09: Doing The Unstuck [Extended 12” Mix] (5:54)
10: Friday I’m In Love [Strangelove Mix] (5:29 [Friday I’m In Love 12"]
11: A Letter To Elise [Blue Mix] (6:36) [A Letter To Elise 12"]
12: End [Paris Live 92] (8:38) **

LOST WISHES D2C Exclusive replica cassette EP

SIDE A

01: Uyea Sound [Dim-D Mix] (5:28)
02: Cloudberry [Dim-D Mix] (5:22)

SIDE B
03: Off To Sleep… [Dim-D Mix] (3:47)
04: The Three Sisters [Dim-D Mix] (4:12)

https://www.thecure.com

Seminal punk debut album by Dead Kennedys gets a new remix

Dead Kennedys’ classic album Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables has been remixed from the original multitrack tapes by Grammy-winning mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, Bruce Springsteen).

The band’s debut was originally released on September 2, 1980. The 2022 Mix will be available on September 30 via Manifesto Records and is available for pre-order here: https://lnk.to/DKFreshFruit2022.

“When the label suggested we remix Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables," says East Bay Ray, "Klaus Fluoride [bassist] and I were skeptical, but we thought, 'Why not? Let’s give it a try.' And, wow, GRAMMY-winning maestro Chris Lord-Alge was interested! It turns out he’s a big fan of the band... We tried one song, 'Chemical Warfare.' What Chris came back with was amazing. Everyone heard the difference, so we said, 'All right, let's go!"

This new mix, produced by Lord-Alge, lends incredible new sonic clarity to those songs. “Revisiting Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was such an inside peek at a band packing so much excitement onto tape for every song,” says Lord-Alge. “The style and playing has such drive and spirit. The big challenge for me was keeping it honest to its original sound and not letting it become modern but improving the separation and clarity. A major chapter in history for Dead Kennedys.”

While “iconic” and “classic” has been overused to the point of being an eye-rolling cliché, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is just that… a hugely influential work that created a major shift in the culture and creation of music to come. “The band’s creative m.o.: left leaning politics, mordant humor, gonzo imagery (What the hell do suede denim secret police want with your uncool niece, for Christ sake?), and muscular instrumentation. There was no other band that sounded like DKs,” details Amy Linden, nationally recognized journalist and former DK tour manager. “Dead Kennedys belied the mainstream narrative/falsehood that punk was more about provocation and attitude than actual skills and song craft. Which is not to say that Dead Kennedys didn’t have a healthy respect for provocation: this was a band not afraid to push, and even tear off, buttons.”

A harsh reaction to the Reagan era in American Politics, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetablestackled capitalism (the scathing and sarcastic and “Kill the Poor”), bioterrorism (“Chemical Warfare”) and even “affluenza” (“Holiday in Cambodia”). “California über alles” (a pointed take on the anthem of Germany which begins “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles”) was a blistering satirical take on Governor of California Jerry Brown (1975-1983) and “hippie fascism.”

Dead Kennedys’ influence resounded loudly throughout punk, hardcore, metal and rock. “If you had to define and summarize all of punk rock, in my opinion it would be the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, the Ramones’ Rocket to Russia, and Dead Kennedys’ Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables,” said David Ellefson, Megadeth. “It is a slab of timeless perfection that will never be duplicated or imitated,” adds Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise. “My education was punk rock—what the Dead Kennedys said—it was attacking America, but it was America at the same time,” contributes Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong. For Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, the band’s impact was visceral and impactful. He remembers, “I went…to the DK’s Rock against Reagan show in Washington [1984]…the Dead Kennedys were playing…and were one of my favorite bands. There were police helicopters all over the place and buses filled up with riot police. As a thirteen year old kid, that was like my own little revolution.”

But what matters most is the music. As historic as Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables stands in the pantheon of music, it’s the personal effect it has on the listener and how it really does stand the test of time. “Back in the day, ‘deep listening’ was a part of the culture,” concludes East Bay Ray. “When anyone got a new record, they sat back in a sofa or chair, album cover in hand, and just listened. Dr. Ray highly recommends this for the 2022 Mix of Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.”

Dead Kennedys lineup on Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables is Jello Biafra (lead vocals), East Bay Ray (guitar, Echoplex), Klaus Fluoride (bass, backing vocals), and Ted (drums). The 2022 Mix will be released on September 30, 2022 via Manifesto Records. The original 1980 mix will remain available. 

1 Kill the Poor
2 Forward to Death
3 When Ya Get Drafted
4 Let's Lynch the Landlord
5 Drug Me
6 Your Emotions
7 Chemical Warfare
8 California Über Alles
9 I Kill Children
10 Stealing People's Mail
11 Funland at the Beach
12 Ill in the Head
13 Holiday in Cambodia
14 Viva Las Vegas