A goofy walking bassline opens up this (reimagined) classic Dead Kennedys track. Jazzy, mellow guitar and swing percussion enter the mix as Jello Biafra addresses an imaginary bar, encouraging them to drink up to the last moments of free speech, recommending the house special – Jack, purple Kool-Aid, and formaldehyde from Hitler‰’s brain. A familiar chord progression sneaks out of the lounge instrumentation and Jello cements the similarity, crooning “I am emperor Ronald Reagan, born again with fascist cravings. Still, you made me president.‰” He paints a dystopian future with human rights replaced by school-sponsored prayer before sliding into the “California Uber Allies‰” chorus that Guitar Hero taught us to love all those years ago. By this point, the dark sarcasm is over boiling and the once mellow guitar has hints of distortion. The band sings a brainless barber shop quartet melody. Jello finally gives it up and screams the last syllable, launching the band into their slimy, blisteringly fast brand of punk.

Jello sounds more manic with each word as his nightmare gets ever more vivid, the KKK on their way to finalizing the master race, a new Vietnam right around the corner, and a public too engrossed in their televised football and snack foods to give a shit. The band rescinds into swing mode for a verse before exploding back, gaining momentum and noise as Jello screams about the coming of 1984, complete with Reagan-sponsored boot camps to feed “global corporations‰’ claws.‰” The track ends with Jello alternating between moaning as if being tortured and cackling as if performing the torture. A martial snare puts the nail into the song‰’s coffin.

I chose to write about this song not because it‰’s technically great nor because I think Reagan was secretly a Nazi nor because it‰’s one of the Kennedys‰’ best. It‰’s not even an original song. “We‰’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now‰” is important because demonstrates the Dead Kennedy‰’s inability to age. Instruments still sound menacing and move a thousand miles a second and Jello‰’s vocal performance skirts insanity. The real staying power of the Dead Kennedys is how they mixed that raw, breakneck punk sound with simultaneously thought-provoking and hilariously dark lyricism. The Dead Kennedys are like the 1984 of punk – regardless of time, candidates, races, issues, current events, what have you, their scathing lyrics will always be relevant regardless if they‰’re butchering new age liberals or the poster boy of conservatism himself. Throw on Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables and realize that while the faces and talking points change, the rotting world remains the same.