Sound: A great document that captures the Dead Kennedys from their primal beginnings, Live at the Deaf Club is a vastly superior recording than Mutiny on the Bay and the earliest DK recording widely available.
The album was recorded March 3, 1979 at the Deaf Club and was the last performance of 6025, their additional guitarist. After a quick intro by a DJ Johnny Walker, the band bursts into a disco version of "Kill the Poor," with Biafra yelling at the crowd to dance and making fun of some of the more New Wave kids. Covers of "Back in the USSR" and "Have I The Right?" are amusing and entertaining to the uninitiated, and other unreleased tracks like "Gaslight," "Back in Rhodesia," and "Straight A's" are plenty for more serious fans to sink into. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: As usual, the lyrics are sardonic and sarcastic, heavily politicized, and can deal with just about any topic, no matter how sensitive. A few of the songs by 6025 have slightly more surrealistic lyrics, much more cryptic than Biafra's usual in-your-face delivery. // 7
Impression: This is probably the only proper live recording of the Dead Kennedys available (others like A Skateboard Party are long out of print or of poor quality). Jello Biafra himself has criticized the sound quality of the album and the motives of his former band mates in releasing it. While Jello is professedly unsentimental, I have to disagree with him here. Although his beliefs regarding the Mutiny on the Bay live album are justified, this album is far too good for fans of punk rock and hardcore DK fans to miss. // 10
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