Killradio and its favorite condiment

Cherry bomb on top: Killradio uses whipped cream as a metaphor for discontent

By Mike Prevatt

If there's one sign of the times that rankles Killradio singer Brandon Jordan the most, it's the American flag. Though he's not down on the flag itself, he's sickened by how it's been co-opted by particular people in this country who see it as a symbol of a new and unquestionable kind of patriotism. He's not afraid to explain his feelings on the topic, whether in an interview, in his band's music or during a performance--which was especially the case during Killradio's first-ever gig two years ago in a well-to-do San Fernando Valley suburb.

"I remember not being able to be contain myself on the mic," says Jordan. "I was so fed up, talking [about] how everyone was patting themselves on the fucking back because they had an American flag or sticker on the car. It doesn't show me you really care for your country. It shows me you're just a vain person. Your charity is vanity, you know? Everyone wants to be seen as a really good patriot. So I took the piss out of [the audience] for doing that."

Jordan's screeds that night provoked the ire of a group of "threatening" attendees, and surprisingly--given the sometimes incendiary themes and viewpoints in Killradio's debut, Raised on Whipped Cream--every other gig since has been less volatile. The punk-and-funk, 2 1/2-year-old act is finding an audience fed up with the ways the Bush administration is trying to redefine what it means to be American. And Jordan--who was enlisted in the Navy during his senior year of high school until he realized he wouldn't make a good seaman--is finding an outlet for his anger through his music's messages, where emotional release through three-chord politicking is ultimately liberating.

"I would say more or less, the lyric writing can give you that sense of venom that you want to get out," says Jordan. "And once you have it on the page and you're able to express yourself, for me, I feel more comfortable with myself. I got it off my chest. And there's a lot of joy that comes from that."

Raised on Whipped Cream is so politically charged and anti-Bush, it makes Michael Moore sound like a Fox News commentator. In the leadoff track, "A.M.E.R.I.K.A.," Jordan bellows out, "The informed citizen became un-American for reading a book instead of watching television, supporting peace and not the president, [I'd] rather die on the cross than for a fucking Republican." But he also maintains that the album exhibits a fair amount of social commentary, addressed directly in its title.

"It could have been called Raised on Wrestlemania," says Jordan. "It was picked because [whipped cream] has no nutritional value. It's this sweet, sugary dessert, and I think we've been given a sweet, sugary [view] of life. We haven't gotten to the heart of the matter. Instead, we've been raised on TV and we think life is like Hollywood, and it's unhealthy. I don't think it benefits people to not know the truth. The record title, from our point of view, is summing up our childhood. We have to go on our own now, a process of unlearning things that have been...unanimously and blindly accepted as truth."

Scathing critiques and revolutionary ideals abound on the album. "Classroom Blues" decries the sanitized history lessons of public education. "Penis Envy" looks at our nation's bigger-is-better attitude, especially when it comes to foreign policy. And "Ad Jam" attacks name brands and big corporations--which is ironic, given the album is distributed by Sony Music (home to historically outspoken acts like Bob Dylan, the Clash and Rage Against the Machine). However, it's saying something that one of the Big Five record companies would take a chance on such a provocative young band. It certainly offers the band more opportunities for exposure, something Killradio plans on taking advantage of any way it can.

"I want people to hear the record," says Jordan. "If they don't like it, they don't like it--as long as they have that choice. But we're going to do everything in our power to slam it in people's faces. I think people are in the mood for that, for someone to cut the line."