Also this issue:

Ghost in the Machine
Japanese psychedelia invades brains, raises spirits.
-A.D. Amorosi

Family Fugue
Orchestra 2001 puts the Crumbs back together.
-Peter Burwasser

Originators of the Species
The progenitors of progressive house sprout legs, go on tour.
-Sean O’Neal

The Gig

Jon Langford
-Paul Burress

Ryan Adams
-A.D. Amorosi

The Blind Boys of Alabama/ The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
-Sam Adams

The Chameleons
-Sam Adams

October 3- 9, 2002

musicpicks

Jello Biafra

The way Jello Biafra spouts simple, populist, easily applauded bits of common sense, he'd make a fine stand-up comedian, or maybe a Jenny Jones guest. Unfortunately the former Dead Kennedys lead singer deems himself a one-man political "anti-pundit," delivering oversimplifications (all Republicans are "cowboys" to him), occasional errors (he's actually ripped Clear Channel for that obviously fraudulent, post-9/11 banned songs-list) and showing off his nasal George Bush impression at rock venues and colleges. So it's tough to give him a free pass just because he's mostly right about most issues, or to say "at least he's getting young people to think about things," because hell, they should be thinking anyway. The truth of it is, if Biafra had all the time in the world and a captive audience, he could easily prove he knows what he's talking about, but until he gets his own talk show, we'll have to settle for these speaking engagements to spark our search for political truth. And besides, the X-Files-ian root of the criticisms you can wage against Biafra is the same as he encourages you to direct against to the politicians he vilifies so cartoonishly: Question everything, trust no one.

Wed., Oct. 9, 7 p.m.,$10, all ages, The First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., www.r5productions.com.

—Patrick Rapa