Dead Kennedys

Few reunions have been as troubled as that of ’80s punk antagonizers Dead Kennedys. Over five albums of anarcho-hardcore, the San Francisco band satirically skewered the religious right, threw lyrical darts at hypocritical liberals, and just generally made a scene. To wit, performing at the industry-infested Bay Area Music Awards in 1980, singer Jello Biafra declared his band to be “new wave” as they revealed dollar signs painted on their dress shirts. But though DK split in 1986—and Biafra has since moved on to a spoken-word career—the others reunited in 2001 after successfully suing him for fraud and malice. They now own the rights to the DK back-catalogue, and tour it gleefully.

Updated 10/04/2010