Dead Kennedys

I don’t think there is a whole lot I can say about the Dead Kennedys that has not already been said. Without question they were Pied Pipers who spread independent music far and wide. They were one of the first American punk bands to extensively tour Europe. In addition, Alternative Tentacles also had great distribution in Europe which made their music easy to find. Those first couple of albums were and still are crucial pillars on which any good hardcore music lovers collection should be based. They were one of the most dangerous and thrilling bands I ever heard as a little dude, and let’s not kid ourselves, “Plastic Surgery Disasters” is where they hit their stride. With D.H. Peligro on drums things really gelled and they became even more ferocious. This album ripped my brain to shreds and still thrills me to the core, so you can imagine how excited I was when East Bay Ray asked me if I’d like to do some work for them! It took a few years to figure out what to do, but once I started drawing some of my favorite album covers, it made perfect sense as to what to do for a shirt! This was a long long time dream of mine to work with the Dead Kennedys, and I hope you’re stoked too. -Chris Shary