Farewell D.H. Peligro

By Null

The legendary drummer of Dead Kennedys died after hitting his head during a fall on October 28, 2022. Peligro had a long history playing in many bands and even released three albums under his own name. While I am unfamiliar with most of them, I intimately know all of his work in the Dead Kennedys, as this band absolutely changed my life. For me, D.H. Peligro will always be “the sound” of punk rock drumming. 

I cannot quantify how much each member of the Dead Kennedys meant to me. Jello Biafra’s socio-political lyrics involved satire that made listeners snicker with laughter, yet also left them heartbroken. His vocal delivery was a vicious attack on injustice and inhumanity wherever he found it. East Bay Ray’s guitar work complemented Jello’s lyrical style with a slashing, psychedelic surf rock. Klaus Flouride’s bass lines were the sound of perfection, tethering the band, and each song, to the ground. Behind all of this was the knocking stream engine of Peligro. He was the backdrop to the drama and theatrics, holding the show together. He could play with gentle hands and subtly until he hit the release valve, cueing the band to explode, as in the song “Riot.” He nailed swing-jazz, as in “We’ve Got a Bigger Problem Now.” He was able to hold the whole band down in a straight-up rock groove. He also played blisteringly fast hardcore punk that still baffles the mind. Best of all, the band could play loose and free, or be as tight as a tourniquet, often within the same song. Peligro was there for each lightening turn.

Like The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, each member had a specific roll to play resulting in a unique and instantly recognizable sound. Also, unlike today, where everything is overproduced, the Dead Kennedys sounded like a band in a room. Peligro’s drums sound like, well, drums, recorded with microphones, not processed on the some virtual-space.

There will not be full-blown articles in rock magazines analyzing and recounting the many triumphs in Peligro’s style, as was the case when John Bonham and Neil Pert died. But there should be. Unfortunately, music critics will simply note, “He was just a punk drummer.” Okay, that’s fine. It is as it always was. However, those who listened closely and took mental notes already know the brilliance of Peligro. We don’t need any validation of his ability, because it was completely evident when sitting in a bedroom with lyric sheets in hand and listening to the music with headphones. Peligro did not just play a part in a radical punk band; he was a member of one of the greatest and most important bands to ever record music.

Peligro rarely wrote lyrics for the Dead Kennedys—that was Jello’s role. However, he did write the lyrics to the second song on the album Frankenchrist, called “Hellnation.” I’ll let him have the last word.

Hellnation’s when they teach us

Profiting from greed

Hellnation’s what they give us

Coke, heroin & speed

Hellnation’s when they tell you

You gotta go clean up your act

You’re the one who dragged me here

And now you drag me back

To this Hellnation

Problem is, few care

About the people in despair

If you help no one

You’re guilty in the Hellnation

Hellnation’s when the president

Asks for four more fucking years

Hellnation’s when he gets it

By conning poor people and peers

Hellnation—got no choice

What’s the point of trying to vote?

When this country makes war

We all die in the same boat

In this Hellnation

Problem is, few care

About the people in despair

If you help no one

You’re guilty in the Hellnation

It’s the only world we’ve got

Let’s protect it while we can

It’s all there is and there ain’t no more

Hellnation—asking please

For a nuclear freeze

So the unborn kids

Get their chance to live and breathe

Hellnation asking aid

For the minimum wage

So the kids of tomorrow

Don’t wind up slaves to their trade

In the Hellnation

Problem is, few care

About the people in despair

If you help no one

You’re guilty in the Hellnation