Redd Kross: Researching the Blues

Redd Kross returns to bless us all with brilliant power-pop

Redd Kross’ first studio release in fifteen years actually reaches back an additional decade to the line-up that recorded 1987’s Neurotica. Six years ago the brothers McDonald reunited with guitarist Robert Hecker and drummer Roy McDonald for live appearances (including the DVD Got Live if You Must!), and have now mixed and released this album of songs written and recorded in 2007-08. Everything you ever loved about Redd Kross is here, including the pop culture references in the monster-themed titles “Dracula’s Daughter” and “Meet Frankenstein.” The former is drenched in Beach Boys-styled vocal harmonies and the latter draws perfectly on 65/66-era Beatles, and while the drum lead-in to “One of the Good Ones” may have you humming the Monkees’ “Mary, Mary,” the song’s original melody quickly proves itself as sweet as anything Kasenetz-Katz ever produced. The lead single, “Stay Away From Downtown,” is one giant earworm and the garage buzz of “Uglier” is augmented by Stones-y ”whoo-hoos.” Redd Kross has never sounded better: their guitars buzz and ring, their rhythm section charges madly and their sha-la-las are sung as if their lives depend on getting you to sing along. If you’re having a bad day, this album is the cure. [©2012 hyperbolium dot com]

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