THE WORLD AS SEEN BY JELLO BIAFRA

With the state’s political machinery gearing up, it’s fitting that Jello Biafra is starting to surface.

Although the timing may be coincidental, there’s always been some connection between the 27-year-old Biafra--who appears tonight at the Lhasa Club in Hollywood--and politics.

For starters, the San Francisco band he formed and fronts bears a politically raw name: the Dead Kennedys. The group’s 1979 debut single, “California Uber Alles,” spoofed the ambitions and style of then-governor Jerry Brown.

The same year, Biafra entered the San Francisco mayoral race--and finished fourth in a field of 10.

“It was a fun and worthwhile way to sabotage the system from within,” Biafra said recently, reflecting on his campaign.

His platform included serious proposals such as legalizing squatting in buildings left vacant for tax write-offs and having police officers run for reelection. Among the less serious ones was requiring downtown businessmen to wear clown suits.

Perhaps because Biafra’s smart, trenchant commentaries are embedded in the Kennedys’ frantic attack, many rock fans have ignored his treatises. Or worse, listened but missed the point--and humor--of his diatribes addressing such topics as organized religion, right-wing politicos and corporate honchos.

The flip side of this, Biafra pointed out during a recent phone interview from his San Francisco home, is that songs that first seemed funny or absurd have become less so.

“I’ve noticed that some of our songs that people thought were exaggerated at the time they came out--like ‘When Ya Get Drafted’--are kind of coming back to haunt us with a vengeance,” he explained.

One highlight of Dead Kennedys concerts over the years has been Biafra’s between-songs patter, elaborating on themes from the songs or quoting from news articles.

In recent months, he’s focused on that side of things by giving spoken-word performances, including tonight’s at the Lhasa Club.

Said Biafra: “I’m going to use the spoken-word thing as an outlet for information, as kind of a mutant form of journalism. I’ve discovered it’s a good way of getting more information out to people than quick snippets of news items between songs at a rock show.”

Presumably, this approach will make it easier to ferret out this propagandist’s insightful and droll observations--certainly easier than when he’s delivering them with his quivering bark within the Kennedys’ speedy, steamroller rock.

On the other hand, with the next Dead Kennedys album, “Bedtime for Democracy” (scheduled for fall release), his singing may be considerably more comprehensible: He’s been taking vocal lessons.

Both “Bedtime” and a forthcoming compilation package will be released on Alternative Tentacles Records, the independent label the band founded several years ago. Alternative Tentacles has put out nearly 50 records, including ones by punk kingpins DOA, the Dicks and B.G.K.

Biafra and his cohorts formed the label not only as a way to retain artistic control over their projects, but also to keep tighter rein on their legal and financial situation. It’s ironic, then, that he’s had to spend much of his time dealing with legal disputes between the label and its manufacturers and distributors.

This requires him to do a lot of running around and assorted menial tasks--which he clearly does not enjoy.

“Being an art bureaucrat is something I need to find a way to wiggle out of,” he said.

Of course, there aren’t many “art bureaucrats” who’d choose to call their chief outlet the Dead Kennedys. Now that eight years have passed since the band began, have people gotten used to the name, or do most still find it offensive?

“I don’t think it ever stops offending people, especially when they realize what we’re up to,” Biafra replied, laughing. “It’s just one of the ways we use a volatile statement like that to penetrate people’s heads, get them so riled that they start to think for a change.”

HALL OF FAME: Cleveland, the city where the term rock ‘n’ roll was coined, is expected to be named the site of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a press conference Monday. Other cities considered by the Hall of Fame Foundation search committee included Los Angeles, Memphis, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco.

LIVE ACTION: Tickets go on sale Monday for Van Halen’s July 2 and 3 concerts at the Forum. . . . Tickets will be available Sunday for Julio Iglesias’ Hollywood Bowl show Sept. 25. . . . Charlie Sexton’s Southland dates include shows at UC Irvine May 31, the Roxy June 3-4 and 6-7, and UCLA June 11. . . . Tickets go on sale Monday for Eddie Murphy’s June 13 show at the Pacific Amphitheatre. . . . Modern English will be at the Palace May 29. . . . Tickets go on sale Sunday for Starpoint’s Universal Amphitheatre date May 24.