THURSDAY

I’d be the last person to deny the members of the Dead Kennedys their inalienable right to cynically cash in on their reputation as satirists of American hypocrisy and greed. But the Dead Kennedys without Jello Biafra? That’s like the Doors without Jim Morrison. Why, a more cynical person might even label their tour “Anarchy for Sale.” From 1980’s Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables through 1987’s posthumous Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, the acid-tongued Biafra penned some of the best song titles of all time, among them “California Uber Alles,” “Nazi Punks Fuck Off,” and the immortal “Too Drunk to Fuck.” (Side note: One of the top 10 mistakes of my life was giving my “Too Drunk to Fuck” T-shirt to some crazy punker in an abandoned factory/youth club in a tiny East German town as a token of German-American punk amity.) With singer Brandon Cruz of the punk band Dr. Know filling in for Biafra, the re-formed DKs—including East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride, and D.H. Peligro—undoubtedly hope to relive some glory days. But without Biafra, it’s going to take Dr. Frankenstein to bring these Dead Kennedys back to life. How ’bout they just change the band’s name to Triumph of the Swill? The Dead Kennedys (or parts thereof) play with the River City Rebels, Bad Uncle, Subsist, and Fallout Countdown at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at Jaxx, 6355 Rolling Road, West Springfield. $15. (703) 569-5940. (Michael Little)