''Plastic Surgery Disasters'' is the second full-length album released by punk rock band

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

. Recorded in San Francisco during June 1982, it was produced by the band and punk record producer

Thom Wilson Thom Wilson (died February 8, 2015) was an American punk rock record producer and engineer. Career Wilson began his musical career in the mid-1970s, engineering recordings by soft rock artists Burton Cummings and Seals & Crofts. He began working ...

, with

Geza X Geza Gedeon (born September 28, 1952), professionally known as Geza X, is an American producer. He was a personality in the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s. He is now a producer. He was born in Indiana and moved to California when he was a ...

getting a "special thanks" underneath the DK's/Wilson credit for additional production. (DK's guitarist

East Bay Ray Raymond John Pepperell (born November 17, 1958), better known by his stage name East Bay Ray, is an American musician best known as the guitarist for the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys. His guitar work was heavily influence ...

redundantly added his own name to the production credits on Manifesto reissues of the album.) The album is darker and more

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

-influenced than their debut album ''

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables ''Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables'' is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was first released on September 2, 1980, through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom, and I.R.S. Records in the United States. ...

'' as a result of the band trying to expand on the sound and mood they had achieved with their 1980 single "

Holiday in Cambodia "Holiday in Cambodia" is a song by American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. The record was released as the group's second single in May 1980 by Optional Music with "Police Truck" as the B-side. The photograph on the front cover of the single was ...

". It was the first full-length album to feature drummer

D.H. Peligro DH, Dh, dh, or dH may refer to: Places * DH postcode area, in the United Kingdom for the area of Durham and surrounding towns * Diamond Head, Hawaii, a volcanic tuff cone on Oʻahu Organisations * D+H, a Canadian financial services company * Dep ...

, and is frontman

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

's favorite Dead Kennedys album. According to Jello Biafra, the main musical influences for the album were

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

Les Baxter Leslie Thompson "Les" Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was a best-selling American musician and composer. After working as an arranger and composer for swing bands, he developed his own style of easy listening music, known as exotica ...

and

The Groundhogs Groundhogs are an English blues and rock band founded in late 1963, that toured extensively in the 1960s, achieved prominence in the early 1970s, and continued sporadically into the 21st century. Tony McPhee (guitar and vocals) is the sole co ...

Artwork

The album's cover features the band's name superimposed over the black-and-white photograph "Hands" by photojournalist Michael Wells. Wells's photo depicts the emaciated forearm and hand of a malnourished

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n child in the palm of a European missionary to highlight the horrors of

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

in parts of the African continent during the 1970s and 80s. The same image was used by another San Francisco-based punk band called Society Dog for their 1981 EP ''.....Off of the Leash.''. Most pressings of the album include a booklet containing lyrics and pieces of

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

artwork by Biafra and

Winston Smith Winston Smith may refer to: People * Winston Smith (artist) (born 1952), American artist * Winston Smith (athlete) (born 1982), Olympic track and field athlete * Winston Boogie Smith (born ), American man killed by law enforcement in 2021 * Winst ...

that thematically tie in to the lyrics of each song on the album.

Track listings

On the album's original vinyl and cassette releases, the A-side comprises tracks 1–8, ending with “Winnebago Warrior”, and the B-side tracks 9–13, kicking off with “Riot”. Some reissues parse out Melissa Webber's spoken intro to the album from the opening song, "Government Flu", and list it as a separate track entitled "Advice from Christmas Past". Similarly, Webber's spoken outro after "Moon Over Marin" revisits "Advice from Christmas Past" and is listed as such on some editions of the album. The compact disc of the album has been reissued to include the EP ''

In God We Trust, Inc. ''In God We Trust, Inc.'' is an EP by hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys and the first of the group's releases with drummer D.H. Peligro. The record is a screed against things ranging from organized religion and Neo-Nazism, Neo-Nazis, to the pesti ...

'' as eight tracks added onto its end.

Personnel

;Dead Kennedys *

– lead vocals *

– guitar *

Klaus Flouride Geoffrey Lyall (born May 30, 1949), better known as Klaus Flouride, is an American musician best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography' ...

– bass, backing vocals, clarinet on "Terminal Preppie" *

D. H. Peligro Darren Eric Henley (July 9, 1959 – October 28, 2022), better known by his stage name D. H. Peligro, was an American punk rock musician, most commonly known as the drummer for The Dead Kennedys along with a brief stint as the drummer for Red H ...

– drums with: * Dave Barrett – saxophone on "Terminal Preppie" * Bruce Askley – saxophone on "Terminal Preppie" * Melissa Webber – backing vocals (credited as "The Voice of Christmas Past") * Ninotchka (Therese Soder) – backing vocals on "Forest Fire" and "Winnebago Warrior" ;Production * Thom Wilson; East Bay Ray – producers * John Cuniberti and Oliver Dicicco;– engineer * John Cuniberti;– mixer *

; Jello Biafra – artwork

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1982 albums Alternative Tentacles albums Dead Kennedys albums Albums produced by Thom Wilson Faulty Products albums