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
Peligro was awesome.
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