It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes—or should I say Dorlock Homes, which is what Daffy Duck calls himself when he pretends to be Sherlock Holmes?—to realize that an album called Fresh Duck for Rotting Accordionists might have something to do with the Dead Kennedys’ album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. Sure enough, Fresh Duck for Rotting Accordionists is a track-by-track reworking of the DKs’ 1980 classic album that was released in 2008 by Duckmandu!—complete with exclamation point.
Duckmandu! is a San Francisco-based accordionist named Aaron Seeman, whose repertoire includes “70’s rock, Broadway, klezmer, classical, country, Sousa marches, punk rock, and even a polka or two.” According to Duckmandu!’s website, Klaus Fluoride, the bassist for the Dead Kennedys, reproduces his vocal parts on five of the tracks. Also, Duckmandu! persuaded Winston Smith to do his own duck-centric version of his cover art for the DKs’ In God We Trust, Inc.
Aaron Seeman, a.k.a. Duckmandu!
After warming up to Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra—you know, the majestic music from 2001: A Space Odyssey—Fresh Duck for Rotting Accordionists then settles into the project of presenting every song on Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables in order, although it unaccountably leaves out the DKs’ reworking of Elvis’ “Viva Las Vegas,” which closes out the album—maybe there was a legal issue with the rights?
To make up for that, Duckmandu! adds a few other classics from the heady days of the early 1980s, like DEVO’s “Girl U Want,” Black Flag’s “Police Story,” and Minutemen’s “Jesus and Tequila.”
Duckmandu! is justifiably proud of a writeup that appeared in Maximum Rock ‘n Roll, in which Henry Yu wrote that “Duck did a vocal performance that was a warble-for-warble spot-on Jello.”
In 2011 Duckmandu! came out with Quack Rock, which purported to present “five duckades of accordion mega-hits,” ranging from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to “Highway to Hell” and beyond.
“Holiday in Cambodia”:
After the jump, hear “Girl U Want” played on the accordion…