Time Travel Tuesday: Redd Kross
Rock festivals often provide an opportunity for older bands that haven't performed in years to reunite, and the Coachella Music and Arts Festival is no exception. An example at this year's Coachella lineup is Redd Kross.
Formed by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald (in the center, above) in Hawthorne, a city in the L.A. megalopolis, Redd Kross are masters of frenzied power pop whose members have been closely associated with L.A. punk and hard rock bands like the Circle Jerks and Black Flag. The band Shonen Knife named themselves for a song on Redd Kross's third full-length album, 1990's Third Eye. Shonen Knife acknowledged the debt with a song called "Redd Kross" on their 1991 EP 712.
They released their first self-titled EP in 1980 under the name Red Cross, in reference to the masturbation scene in The Exorcist, but were forced to change the spelling to Redd Kross after being threatened with a lawsuit by the International Red Cross. True sons of Tinsel Town, many early songs reference television and movie personalities and Saturday morning cartoon shows and the breakfast cereals that supported them. The McDonald brothers have even acted in films and TV shows from time to time.
Apart from the McDonald brothers, over the years there have been many changes to the band's lineup, which now includes Roy McDonald, who is also a member of the Muffs and apparently no relation to Jeff and Steve, on drums.
The band took a hiatus after their 1997 release Show World. While they have no plans for extensive touring, since 2006 the McDonald brothers have been playing select shows with Roy McDonald (above left), drums, and Robert Hecker (above right) on lead guitar. Last September they began working in the studio on a new album.
I had forgotten how much I liked Redd Kross, especially Show World, until I tried to pick the songs for this post. The "Lady In the Front Row" could be me! Listen to other songs from the early albums on their MySpace page.
St. Lita Ford Blues from Born Innocent (1982)
Frosted Flake from Neurotica (1987)
Lady In the Front Row from Phaseshifter (1993)
From Show World (1997):
Mess Around
Girl God
MySpace | Website | Label: Five Foot Two Records
Buy at Amazon.com, iTunes, and eMusic
Full biography of the band at Wikipedia
Show Schedule:
Redd Kross will perform on Friday, April 25, at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, CA. Click here to create your personal schedule.
visitors since 01/20/07
3 comments:
I saw them live in 1996 or 1997, without really knowing anything about them, and they were just amazing. Still one of the best gigs I've ever been to. My mate and I missed the last bus home, and walked 5 miles cos we didn't want to miss a moment of the show.
still awesome- saw them in december in brooklyn for the first time in 20 years.
a corrections:
Shonen Knife were already a band before the song Redd Kross wrote and recorded "Shonen Knife" (SK formed in 1981). But yes SK did record a tribute song to Redd Kross on "712"; as well as "White Flag" a nod to Pat Fear's band of the same name on that record. All those bands were and remain friends and recorded as the "Tater Totz" around the same time, paying homage to The Beatles, Yoko Ono, and pop culture in general.
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