'Redd Kross' by Redd Kross
In 1979, two California brothers, Jeff and Steven McDonald, started a rock ‘n’ roll band they eventually named Redd Kross. Forty-five years later, they’re celebrating with a documentary (Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story), a memoir (Now You’re One of Us, out in October), and, best of all, an 18-track double LP.
Titling the album after the band is especially apt, because Redd Kross epitomizes the power-pop proficiency that makes the McDonalds equal to, and frequently better than, anyone else in the subgenre, from Flamin’ Groovies to Fountains of Wayne.
The proficiency emerges in part through generous allowances for diamond-cutter craftsmanship—this is only the third album Redd Kross has put out in the 21st century—and in greater part through brotherly cooperation and competition around singing and songwriting duties.
Elder Jeff is the more immediately accessible singer, with a tone and rasp strongly, even eerily, reminiscent of John Lennon’s vocals. Younger Steven’s plainer phrasing lends everyman charm to a number like “Stuff,” a straightforward, high-revving lark about materialism.
When they alternate, they highlight the variety that a playlist this long should have: Jeff’s spiteful art critique in “Candy Coloured Catastrophe” could be the fuzzed-out reverse angle on Steven’s hapless hurt feelings in the bouncy “I’ll Take Your Word For It.” When they duet, however, they can be entirely plaintive, all but praying to be motivated by love in the mystically anthemic “The Main Attraction.”
Returning second guitarist Jason Shapiro and new drummer Josh Klinghoffer (a former Red Hot Chili Pepper and in-demand session musician) layer more sinew on the McDonalds’ muscular flexes, and as producer Klinghoffer emphasizes a faintly perceptible analog hiss to enhance the undiscovered-classic feel that one song calls “Simple Magic.”
Redd Kross ends with “Born Innocent,” which evokes both the Who’s pre-Tommy potency and Mott the Hoople’s tales of low-tier rock stardom. It’s from the aforementioned documentary; it’s also a testament to creative perseverance and, in its defiant chant of “We all are—born innocent,” an arresting assertion that rock ‘n’ roll is just another form of sin and salvation.
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Get Redd Kross at Amazon here.
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