Great Punk/Metal Albums of 1981: Dead Kennedys- In God We Trust Inc.

First a confession, while I say that I was and still am a big Dead Kennedys fan, back in the 80s, the only two DK albums I listened to in earnest was their first album "Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables," (for those who have joined recently, I did visit said album when I was journeying through 1980) and their 1985 "Frankenchrist" album and you can bet I will be paying tribute to that one. The 1981 EP, "In God We Trust Inc." slipped past me back in the day. My excuse is and it's a piss poor one, that EP's weren't something very common back in 1981 and so I didn't pay much attention to them. That is what this album is labelled as. When I stumbled across "In God We Trust Inc.," I thought it couldn't have been an EP because it had eight songs on it and the standard EP has three or four. Then I quickly discovered that the eight songs on this EP take a grand total of just over thirteen minutes and most artists who release ones with three songs can be longer than that. Saying that, I'm not here to generate a debate on the definitions of EP's and albums but to celebrate a great offering of music from a great band.

It may be only thirteen minutes but in that brief time you get totally bombarded with some loud, fast and furious in your face punk rock. Unlike the Plasmatics, this is punk as punk was meant to be. It ticks all the boxes of punk for those who like to categorise things. I don't but there are some who do. The funny thing is that I don't care that I can't understand what is being sung in the opening track, "Religious Vomit," maybe that's what it is, but I just want to have a good scream when I hear it and that is what punk was meant to do. The next few songs are slightly more intelligible, especially "Moral Majority" and "Hyperactive Child," although I don't know where the last one ends and the next songs begin and frankly, I don't care. I just am carried away by the ferocious music. It is the last three tracks that get slightly more serious and they slow down just enough for Jello Biafra to get his political message across with "Nazi Punks Fuck Off." The same goes with the next and longest track "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now," a fitting song for back then and probably now. In the sense of political awareness in music, I think the Dead Kennedys were ahead of their time. Still the ferocity of the music is not lost in either track. The album ends with a very amusing punk cover of "Rawhide" showing a sense of humour in the band and it was a great way to end things.

Track Listing:

1. Religious Vomit

2. Moral Majority

3. Hyperactive Child

4. Kepone Factory

5. Dog Bite

6. Nazi Punks Fuck Off

7. We've Got a Bigger Problem Now

8. Rawhide

[caption id="attachment_1897" align="aligncenter" width="273" class=" "] Dead Kennedys[/caption]

Jello Biafra- vocals

East Bay Ray- guitar, backing vocals

Klaus Flouride- bass, backing vocals

D.H. Peligro- drums

If you want a good ear bashing but don't have much time, then I can recommend "In God We Trust Inc." from the Dead Kennedys. You will certainly get an ear bashing for thirteen fast and furious minutes. This may have been a short EP, but when it's over, you surely don't forget it and like me, starting over to listen to it again.

Next post: Hanoi Rocks- Bangkok Bakes, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks

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