by JOHNSON CUMMINS

In 2001, Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra was taken to court by his ex-bandmates and convicted of fraud after it was proven that he was hiding royalties from his band. Guitarist East Bay Ray, drummer D.H. Pelgro and bassist Klaus Flouride won back their back catalogue from the Biafra-run label Alternative Tentacles, and now they're hitting the road for the fans, many of whom are getting their first glimpse of this classic band that called it a day in 1986. With new singer Jeff Penalty filling Biafra's shoes for such classics as "Holiday in Cambodia," "Moon Over Marin," and "Too Drunk to Fuck," East Bay Ray seems more excited to talk about the band than ever. And after years of talking about the band through lawyers, who wouldn't be?

"It was actually D.H.'s idea to get back together and play a few songs," says Ray. "We were showing up to sign autographs at the Mutiny on the Bay release party and knew there would be equipment there that night, as some bands were going to play as well. So we asked D.H.'s friend Brandon Cruz from Dr. Know if he wanted to sing and we started rehearsing in L.A. When we started playing together it was just ‘that' sound that you only get when the three of us are playing together. There was a small window in the space with about 10 people outside just listening. The rumour hit the street that we were going to play and the show sold out two weeks in advance with 400 people just listening outside of the club. Since then, we've been to Russia, Serbia, Chile, Brazil, Japan and Istanbul, and the response has just been amazing."

A bigger problem

Easily one of hardcore and punk rock's most influential bands, the Dead Kennedys may be best remembered for railing against Reagan-era right-wing politics, but songs about police brutality ("Police Truck"), war for the control of oil ("Bleed for Me") or the aptly titled "We've Gotta Bigger Problem Now" seem to translate well in 2005, or, as Ray describes it, "the scariest political time of our lives."

"I think one of the big problems we have now is the secrecy of the Bush White House. People like Karl Rove are very good at manipulating people's fears and insecurities. They went to Iraq to look for weapons of mass destruction and there wasn't any, and they were able to change the reason why we were there and actually were able to sell it to the American people and get re-elected. That's not how a democracy is run, but Karl Rove doesn't think the American people are ready for a democracy," he says.

"First they were using drug laws to take people's rights away and now they're using terrorist laws to take people's rights away, which is exactly what the terrorists want. We update lyrics to some of the old songs because I still think the most important thing about this band is that people walk away with a message instead of who is playing in the band or what songs we are playing."

Whenever I get around to asking about the chances of Jello Biafra rejoining the band - having been prodded by the rumours on the Dead Kennedys' official Web site that Biafra was "kinda interested" - Ray reminds me not to hold my breath. Despite a lack of new songs on their set list, the DKs know exactly why people are paying the admission price and are solely concentrating on the '78-'86 lifespan of the band. Although the set list may be a reflection of a band more than two decades old, Ray insists that he is quite comfortable being a Dead Kennedy after all these years.

"I would say the proudest moment of being in this band is right now because there are not really a lot of bands that can say that they draw two generations of fans and get the chance to play the places that we get to play. As a musician, I consider that a real honour. I don't want to sound egocentric, but I think the music we did was really good and it really has stood the test of time."

With Brat Attack and Jesus and the Headliners at Club Soda on Saturday, Aug. 13, 8 p.m., $20

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