The Lifeless Kennedys have been already punk-popular when drummer D.H. Peligro joined the San Francisco-based group in 1981. The band’s debut album, 1980’s “Contemporary Fruit for Rotting Greens,” melded surf rock and Bay Space psychedelia in a method that disproved the trope about punk musicians who couldn’t play their devices. Not properly, anyway.

Peligro — born Darren Henley — died Friday at his Los Angeles residence. In line with an announcement issued by the band, police “acknowledged that he died from trauma to the pinnacle brought on by an unintended fall.” He was 63.

Peligro’s arrival within the Lifeless Kennedys (additionally that includes bassist Geoffrey “Klaus Flouride” Lyall, singer Eric “Jello Biafra” Reed Boucher and guitarist Raymond “East Bay Ray” Pepperell) was a part of the burgeoning American hardcore scene, a brand new punk sound that fostered bands like Black Flag, Unhealthy Brains and the Misfits taking part in sooner, louder and more durable than their authentic releases. With Peligro, Lifeless Kennedys issued the 1981 “In God We Belief, Inc.,” an eight-song launch that added elevated tempos to the band’s cacophonic creations — in the absolute best method. Solely two of the eight songs are longer than two minutes (“We’ve Obtained a Larger Drawback Now,” which clocks in at 4 minutes and 29 seconds, and a two-minute-and-11-second-long cowl of Frankie Laine’s “Rawhide”), however possibly that was the purpose. Get in and get out. Or, maybe, it was not possible to play as quick and as laborious as Peligro did for longer than 90-second bursts.

The 13-minute-and-54-second EP was adopted by 1982’s “Plastic Surgical procedure Disasters,” a magnum opus of American hardcore. The 14-track album opens with a Stooges-inspired freakout and a lady asking, “Why are you such a silly a—?” earlier than launching into “Authorities Flu.” Listeners instantly hear a brand new Lifeless Kennedys — sooner, extra musical and extra keen to experiment than the group’s prior releases. Peligro counts off the observe, which begins with 15 seconds of an enviornment rock-influenced intro earlier than transitioning into 4 seconds of Peligro utilizing each fingers on the hi-hat with an accompanying regular kick drum. The music explodes into chaos led by East Bay Ray’s apocalyptic-sounding lead and Biafra’s quaking vibrato. It’s Peligro, nonetheless, who guides the foursome by that chaos.

“The drummer I referred to as ‘Harmful Darren’ appeared in Southern California with the Lifeless Kennedys at a flashpoint when an rising subgenre dubbed ‘hardcore punk’ was veering towards an Aryan skinhead look,” authentic Circle Jerks drummer Fortunate Lehrer says, “however followers didn’t care about look. D.H. was enthusiastically embraced. His pace, creativity, precision, drive and stamina places him in an elite class amongst hardcore drummers.”

For some musicians, being referred to as heavy handed can be thought of an insult. For Peligro, it’s the last word praise. Simply take heed to how laborious he hits the intro roll on “Terminal Preppie” and the way his proper hand washes the hi-hat like a mix of Ringo Starr and Tommy Ramone. The principle riff in “Belief Your Mechanic” facilities round Peligro’s drumline-influenced rolls whereas “Forest Fireplace” highlights his skill to swing on the journey, earlier than, in typical Lifeless Kennedys trend, descending into aural insanity. The album nearer, “Moon Over Marin,” a music extra akin to “Kill the Poor” and “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” (each from “Contemporary Fruit for Rotting Greens”), proves Peligro wasn’t restricted to performing hardcore. He may play Lifeless Kennedys odd tackle pop music too.

Peligro performs on 1985’s “Frankenchrist” and 1986’s “Bedtime for Democracy” and had been a part of the Lifeless Kennedys (sans Biafra) reside performances because the group reunited at West Hollywood’s Key Membership in 2001. Some followers have scoffed on the notion of a Biafra-less Lifeless Kennedys, however others embraced the chance to listen to three-fourths of the traditional lineup as a result of the band was at all times in regards to the sum of its components and the power of every member. Positive, audiences would have most popular to see Biafra onstage, however there aren’t many Nineteen Eighties American hardcore bands nonetheless taking part in with 75% of its traditional lineup. Followers attended latest reveals as a result of Peligro, East Bay Ray and Flouride have been very important to the Lifeless Kennedys’ sound.

In 1988, Peligro performed in Purple Scorching Chili Peppers after the departure of founding drummer Jack Irons. He doesn’t play on any RHCP official releases however is credited as a co-writer on three tracks from 1989’s “Mom’s Milk.”

“My expensive good friend, my brother I miss you a lot,” Purple Scorching Chili Peppers bassist Flea wrote on Instagram. “I’m devastated right now, a river of tears, however all my life I’ll treasure each second. The primary time I noticed you play with the DK’s in ’81 you blew my thoughts. The ability, the soul, the recklessness. You’re the truest rocker, and an important a part of rhcp historical past. D H P within the place to be, you reside perpetually in our hearts, you wild man, you bringer of pleasure, you big hearted man.”

Peligro launched three solo information (1995’s “Peligro,” 2000’s “Welcome to America” and 2004’s “Sum of Our Environment”) and a 2013 memoir titled “Dreadnaught: King of Afropunk.”

“Their Various Tentacles debut is by far the most effective solo album by any of the ex-DKs,” Biafra wrote at alternativetentacles.com. “Like ‘Contemporary Fruit..’ gone Unhealthy Brains, in the absolute best method.”

Being part of Purple Scorching Chili Peppers can be the top of many musicians’ careers, however Peligro might be remembered primarily for his position within the Lifeless Kennedys.

In line with the Lifeless Kennedys’ Fb web page, Peligro’s preparations “are pending and might be introduced within the coming days.”

“He was a powerhouse of a drummer with a coronary heart even larger than his sound,” Flouride instructed The Instances. “A pricey good friend in addition to a bandmate for over 40 years.”

East Bay Ray echoed that sentiment. “It‘s mentioned {that a} wound to the center is the place the sunshine is available in,” he mentioned. “D.H. Peligro had greater than his share of wounds and but he was in a position to share his brilliant gentle with others. Now that gentle is gone.”