Category : featured

Now You’re One of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross

By Jeffrey and Steven McDonald with Dan Epstein
Omnibus Press

Emerging from humble beginnings in suburban Los Angeles, the McDonalds took their rock ‘n’ roll fantasy and ran with it — and wound up becoming one of the most influential American bands of their time.

Now You’re One of Us is the definitive statement about Redd Kross, an in-depth and riveting tale told in the voices of the talented and tempestuous brothers at the core of this iconic outfit.

The band’s flamboyant, genre-defying, joyously tuneful blend of musical, sartorial and pop cultural elements profoundly influenced the punk rock, glam metal and grunge movements and won them a worldwide cult of fervent admirers that includes bands like Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, L7 and The Bangles.

Redd Kross continue rocking to this day, much to the intense delight of fans old and new. And now the McDonalds team up with award-winning music journalist Dan Epstein to tell their wild, hilarious and gloriously star-spangled tale.

‘To me, Redd Kross will always be one of the most important bands of the last 30-40 years.’ Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)

Publication Date: 10.10.24
ISBN: 9781915841056
Extent: 304 pages
Format: Hardback

PRE-ORDER – OUT 10.10.24

Redd Kross NEUROTICA – 35th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION June 24th 2022 from MERGE RECORDS!

Merge to reissue a remastered version of Redd Kross’ legendary Neurotica this summer with bonus material

Merge Records is thrilled to release the 35th anniversary edition of Neurotica, the 1987 power pop and alternative rock opus by Redd Kross, on June 24, 2022. The reissue contains the original album, remastered by JJ Golden (Pearl Jam, Thee Oh Sees), as well as 12 previously unreleased demos from the era (rediscovered recently in the archives of the band’s original A&R guy, Geoffrey Weiss).

This special edition of Neurotica will be available worldwide on a single CD as well as 2–LP-the album on translucent turquoise, the demos on translucent orange-housed in in a slick gatefold jacket. Exclusive to the Merge store is a new Neurotica t-shirt, which can be purchased on its own or bundled with the vinyl or CD. Redd Kross completists should check out our Neurotica superbundle that includes both formats of the album plus the t-shirt at a discount.

Today, the remastered version of Neurotica is available on digital service providers for the first time:

Listen to & pre-order the reissue of Neurotica by Redd Kross now

In some ways, Neurotica can be viewed as a This Is Your Life-esque document of what brothers Jeff McDonald and Steve McDonald had been working towards creatively since starting Redd Kross in their Hawthorne, CA, living room circa 1978. The songs quake with punk rock fury, no doubt about it… I mean, how could they possibly have shaken off all that untamed energy of their early years (the Red Cross years, one might call them) after it helped build such a strong foundation for Southern California hardcore punk & DIY culture (and, arguably, indie rock as a whole) alongside bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Descendents? But that fury is only one part of the Neurotica formula. To find the other parts, you’d have to go back to the early- to mid-’70s when the McDonalds, then adolescents, lived for nothing but Saturday morning cartoons, sugary cereals, bubblegum pop singles and Beach Boys LPs, Partridge Family TV specials, and the bombastic arena-rock guitars of acts like KISS and Cheap Trick. Whereas classic ’60s/’70s radio and pop culture schmaltz served as fodder for most self-respecting punk rockers of the time to sneer at (even if they secretly were fans), it formed a tremendous part of the Redd Kross DNA. The band wore these influences on their day-glo sleeves and didn’t really care who was offended. They decontextualized the macho and sometimes saccharine sounds of classic rock, celebrating its bombast without ever giving in to its pretentious pitfalls. They played what sounded good to them. If, along the way, they just so happened to convince you that those David Cassidy singles on your AM radio are actually kind of great and subversive in their own way, that was just an added bonus.

This unabashed appreciation of the “uncool” (at least in punk rock terms) made Redd Kross, and Neurotica, shine so brightly in the 1980s. Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman told Entertainment Weekly in 1993: “Neurotica was a life changer for me and for a lot of people in the Seattle music community. For [a band] to embrace something so unapologetically crass and packaged—there was something really punk about doing that then.” Redd Kross’ undeniable pop earworms and raucous live shows would set the tone for a generation of young punks (e.g., Kurt Cobain, Paul Westerberg, even Merge Records’ and Superchunk’s own Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance), letting them know that writing something melodic, silly, hooky-even happy-is OK. You can write a chorus that your own mother could hum along to and still be considered the baddest band on the fucking planet.

---

Also available LTD. ED. of 400: Neurotica [Amoeba Records Exclusive AUTOGRAPHED Red/White/Clear Swirl Vinyl] (LP)

---

Variety: Legendary L.A. Band Redd Kross Drop Trailer for ‘Born Innocent’ Documentary

Redd Kross are one of the longest-running bands Los Angeles has spawned in its history, with a career that launched in the city’s late 1970s punk scene (when its brother founders, Jeff and Steve McDonald, were aged 15 and 11, respectively), carried into the power-pop era of the 1980s, then into the alt-rock boom of the ‘90s and straight into the present — the band released a new album just last month.

While Redd Kross never quite broke through — make that haven’t yet broken through — in as big a way as many thought they deserved, the band has a formidable discography, they’ve always put on enormously entertaining live shows, and the brothers are some of the funniest, most gossip-spewing interviewees one could ever hope for. Equally influenced by punk, Kiss, the Partridge Family and pop culture — their first single was called “Linda Blair” — the group reveled in a self-deprecating kitsch and level of humor that flew in the face of nearly every contemporary who took themselves too seriously: As punk became more violent and self-serious during the mid-1980s, Redd Kross grew their hair down to their waists and began wearing the most ludicrous 1970s outfits they could find, specializing in elephant flares, paisley vests and Mary Tyler Moore-style hats.

In short, they’re long overdue for a documentary, and the filmmakers behind “Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story recently shared a trailer of the documentary that coincides with the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to help finish the film.

“There’s a case to be made that Redd Kross is the seminal Los Angeles band of the last 40 years,” the tagline reads. “And ‘BORN INNOCENT’ is gonna make it.

Link to the Kickstarter campaign: Reddkrossfilm.com

As the trailer indicates, the group has spent much of its career in the unusual position of being an influence and a participant in many of the above music scenes. Their first gig, in 1978, was opening for punk legends Black Flag. Their 1987 “Neurotica” album — felt by many fans to be their best — merged power chords with pop melodies and was a deep influence on the nascent grunge scene and the group’s show in Tacoma that year was attended by the future members of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. The ensuing albums, including “Third Eye,” “Phaseshifter” and “Show World,” found the band developing its harmony-heavy power pop sound even further.

The film is directed by Andrew Reich an Emmy Award-winning television comedy writer/showrunner, best known as an Executive Producer on Friends. He has written and produced television pilots featuring stars such as Zac Efron, Candice Bergen, and Zachary Levi. Born Innocent is produced by Julian Cautherley an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker whose projects have participated at Sundance, Berlin, South By Southwest, and TriBeca Film Festivals and have twice been shortlisted for an Academy Award.

The documentary has already filmed interviews with Jeff and Steve and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Buzz Osbourne and Dale Crover (The Melvins) and original Red Cross member Greg Hetson (Bad Religion, Circle Jerks), with many more lined up for later.

 

Brooklyn Vegan: Redd Kross cover Sparks’ “When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’?” for new LP (listen)

 

Redd Kross‘ upcoming album, Beyond the Door, closes with a cover of Sparks’ 1994 single, “When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way,” which they transform from glittering synthpop disco into a triumphant rock anthem. It also comes with the creators’ approval. “Redd Kross has always been one of my favorite bands and that opinion was cemented when I heard their amazing version of our ‘When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way,’” says Sparks’ Ron Mael. “To do a version of that song with a completely different musical approach from the original while keeping every ounce of the original sentiment was an amazing feat. I love it!” The song premieres in this post and you can listen below.

Beyond the Door is out August 23 via Merge and Redd Kross’ tour with Melvins and ShitKid kicks off in September and hits Brooklyn’s Warsaw on October 10 and Asbury Park’s Stone Pony on October 11. Tickets for both are still available.

All dates are listed below.

Speaking of Ron Mael, today (8/12) is his 74th birthday. Happy Birthday, Ron!