In the Grip of Official Treason

by Jello Biafra

With Iraq gone to hell in a handbasket, Rome falling at home, and the so-called opposition Democrats "searching for a message," it's high time for Jello Biafra and his merry mouth to tip the cow and set the barn on fire. As always, Jello whacks the moles wherever he finds them in Spoken Word extravaganza #8, presented in a beautiful triple cd digipack. Buried Iraq facts, vote fraud disease, the Arnold putsch, the blue state/red state "values" myth, Paris in Abu Ghraib, Satanic Santas, a visit to New Orleans, and the return of a strange geometry teacher are all part of the info-tainment stew.

Other highlights of In the Grip of Official Treason include an expanded version of the Ministry song "Ass Clown" from their latest album Rio Grande Blood . Also, check out the all-new update of the Gulf War I primal scream classic "Die for Oil, Sucker." Includes all new art by Winston Smith, links to great information, photos by Jello Biafra, and another of his soon-to-be-classic black and white collages.

Audio CD

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Jello Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band the Dead Kennedys. After his time with the band concluded, he became a political activist and took over the influential record label, Alternative Tentacles, which was founded by him and East Bay Ray. He continued as a musician in numerous collaborations and as a spoken word artist. Politically, he is a member of the Green Party and actively supports progressive political causes. He is a self-proclaimed anarchist who advocates civil disobedience and pranksterism in the name of political change. Biafra is known to use absurdist media tactics in the tradition of the Yippies to highlight issues of civil rights, social justice, and anti-corporatism.

His stage name is a combination of the brand name Jell-O and the name of the short lived country of Biafra which attempted to secede from Nigeria in 1966. After four years of fighting and horrific starvation in Biafra, Nigeria regained control of the nascent Biafran state. Jello Biafra created his name as an ironic combination of a nutritionally poor mass-produced food product and mass starvation. He said he likes how two ideas clash in people's minds.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good old JB - love to hear him tell it like it is! I think it is extremely important to listen to political views that might make you uncomfortable; one of the problems in America today is the tendency to 'tune out' to points of view we do not agree with. JB might be a little extreme for some, but I do believe you will find lots of 'I never thought of that' moments when you listen to him.

[Lloyd Kerns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jello, Darkness, my old friend. I'm breezing through his spoken word albums. He gets repetitive but there so much to take in I don't mind it that much. You kind of have to be repetitive on big issues as they never seem to improve. This is made evident in how old some of these albums are but listening in 2019 they continue to be the same problems caused by the same corporate gangsters.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good stuff here. Jello Biafra (the frontman for the Dead Kennedys if you're not familiar with him - I'm not a fan of punk music, but I think he's brilliant politically) basically talks about a lot of stuff that we should all know but usually don't for various reasons - media doesn't report it, American Idol is on, fear, whatever.

Biafra's got an amazing, analytical mind. Even if you don't agree with him, listening to what he's got to say is worthwhile. It'll make you think, and hopefully at least make you want to find out more for yourself.