Redd Kross

Redd Kross

S/t

In The Red

In 1979, two school-kids all hopped-up on punk-rock started their own group in their hometown of Hawthorne, Los Angeles (birthplace of the Beach Boys) and soon found themselves opening shows for notorious scene pioneers Black Flag. Jeff McDonald was fifteen, his brother Steven McDonald only eleven. But that didn’t stop their group from becoming one of the most remarkable, enduring and unique outfits punk-rock ever belched up. 2024, then, marks Redd Kross’s forty-fifth birthday—an important anniversary for any group whose heart pulses at 45RPM—and the brothers are celebrating the event with a veritable multimedia extravaganza. There’s a memoir, Now You’re One Of Us, due in November, author Dan Epstein telling the group’s story in the McDonalds’ unmistakable (and occasionally contrary) voices. A brilliant rockumentary, Born Innocent, directed by Andrew Reich, will premiere later in the year. Most exciting of all, this new album—an eponymous double-album, no less, packed with eighteen of their sharpest, most addictive songs yet. These years of joyful service to rock’n’roll have seen Redd Kross evolve into a killer pop-rock concern, dealing in dayglo power-chords, choruses as tall as skyscrapers and a lyric sheet thick with acid couplets and arch pop-cultural references their loyal following will gobble up like quaaludes.

Redd Kross

Neurotica

Merge

***REISSUED!!! Merge Records is thrilled to reissue Neurotica by Redd Kross, the 1987 power pop and alternative rock opus celebrating 35 years in 2022. Remastered by JJ Golden (Pearl Jam, Thee Oh Sees) and paired with 12 unreleased demos rediscovered in the archive of original A&R guy Geoffrey Weiss. The double vinyl edition—the album on translucent turquoise, the demos on translucent orange—arrives in a slick gatefold jacket. Neurotica could be viewed as a This Is Your Life-esque document of what brothers Jeff & Steve McDonald had been working toward creatively since starting Redd Kross in their Hawthorne, CA living room circa 1978. The songs quake with punk rock fury. And how could they possibly have shaken off the untamed energy of their early Red Cross years which laid a foundation for Southern California hardcore punk & DIY culture alongside bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Descendants? But fury is only part of their formula. To find the other parts, travel back to the ‘70s, when the McDonald boys lived for nothing but Saturday morning cartoons, sugary cereal, bubblegum pop singles, Beach Boys LPs, Partridge Family TV specials and the arena rock guitars of KISS & Cheap Trick. Whereas most self-respecting punk rockers would have sneered at ‘60s/‘70s radio and pop culture schmaltz (even if they secretly liked it), that was all a tremendous part of the Redd Kross DNA. And the McDonalds wore those influences on their dayglo sleeves. They decontextualized the macho, sometimes saccharine, sound of classic...

Redd Kross

Red Cross Ep

Merge

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  The special 40th anniversary edition of the Red Cross EP, which includes the band’s six-song eponymous debut and adds five contemporaneous extra tracks, is the most comprehensive document to date of the extraordinary birth of REDD KROSS. In a single 12-month period, JEFF and STEVEN MCDONALD, two adolescent brothers from Hawthorne, CA, went from posing with cheap guitars and singing into hairbrushes in front of their bedroom mirror to recording in world-class studios and performing live at punk shows/riots that are still being pondered and written about for their pioneering cultural relevance within the Southern California punk landscape. Redd Kross incubated alongside such SoCal luminaries as Black Flag, Descendents, and the Minutemen, and this new 11-song collection—which includes a live track recorded in 1979 at “The Church,” the infamous Black Flag birthplace in Hermosa Beach, CA—puts in proper perspective the McDonald brothers’ contribution, at the ridiculously precocious ages of 12 and 16, to that area’s punk scene. The demo session was recorded at Media Art in Hermosa Beach, the same studio where Black Flag made their Nervous Breakdown EP. Engineered by SPOT and produced by power pop godfather JOE NOLTE of the Last, these four tracks mark the first time the band had ever stepped foot in a recording studio. Notably, the demo session was paid for with 12-year-old bassist Steven’s paper route money. A couple of months later, in October 1979, the band recorded the “Posh Boy” sessions at the Shelter, a studio in...

Redd Kross

Phaseshifter

Third Man

***The MCDONALD brothers are joined by drummer BRIAN REITZELL, guitarist EDDIE KURDZIEL (R.I.P.) and keyboardist GERE FENNELLY on 1993’s Phaseshifter. REDD KROSS leaves the ‘60s and ‘70s pop culture references at the door (well, most of them) and brings their strong melodies, dreamy harmonies, psychedelic punk/bubblegum metal to the front, tearing through 12 new Redd Kross tunes. Every track is a full-on Redd Kross gem, with standouts like "Crazy World," "Dumb Angel," "Pay For Love" and "After School Special."

Redd Kross

Show World

Third Man

***Phaseshifter line-up intact (GERE FENNELLY would soon move on, but plays all the keyboards on the recording), REDD KROSS came back at us with amps turned up and smiles on their faces on 1997’s Show World. The album starts off with a spot on cover of The Quick’s L.A. power pop classic, "Pretty Please Me," and sets the tone for yet another killer album by the thinking person’s good time band. Like all RK albums before and since, this one is all killer, no filler, with special highlights "Stoned," "Vanity Mirror," "One Chord Progression" and the absolutely sublime "Follow The Leader."

Redd Kross

Beyond The Door

Merge

***REDD KROSS invite you to explore Beyond the Door, an album inspired by the band’s “total commitment to having the best f*cking time we can have while we’re all still here” (what they like to call “the Party”). It’s a rock and roll record and a celebration of everything brothers JEFF and STEVEN MCDONALD love, from cultures both high and low. Musically, it’s guitars, bass, and drums topped with a generous portion of sweet vocal melodies often delivered with an ambiguous edge. Beyond the Door marks Redd Kross’ most collaborative record to date. Steven describes this evolution: “Jeff is still very much the driving force behind the compositions, but with more help from me than ever. Jeff and I haven’t shared this much of the writing and singing since Born Innocent in 1981.” Guitarist JASON SHAPIRO and drummer DALE CROVER (MELVINS, OFF!) are longtime members of the Redd Kross live band, but this album marks the pair’s recorded debut with the group. Mixed in Los Angeles by Steven McDonald, Beyond the Door includes notable guest appearances from ANNA WARONKER (THAT DOG), GERE FENNELLY, BUZZ OSBORNE (MELVINS) and JOSH KLINGHOFFER.

Redd Kross

Beyond The Door (Limited Edition)

Merge

***REDD KROSS invite you to explore Beyond the Door, an album inspired by the band’s “total commitment to having the best f*cking time we can have while we’re all still here” (what they like to call “the Party”). It’s a rock and roll record and a celebration of everything brothers JEFF and STEVEN MCDONALD love, from cultures both high and low. Musically, it’s guitars, bass, and drums topped with a generous portion of sweet vocal melodies often delivered with an ambiguous edge. Beyond the Door marks Redd Kross’ most collaborative record to date. Steven describes this evolution: “Jeff is still very much the driving force behind the compositions, but with more help from me than ever. Jeff and I haven’t shared this much of the writing and singing since Born Innocent in 1981.” Guitarist JASON SHAPIRO and drummer DALE CROVER (MELVINS, OFF!) are longtime members of the Redd Kross live band, but this album marks the pair’s recorded debut with the group. Mixed in Los Angeles by Steven McDonald, Beyond the Door includes notable guest appearances from ANNA WARONKER (THAT DOG), GERE FENNELLY, BUZZ OSBORNE (MELVINS) and JOSH KLINGHOFFER. Limited edition vinyl pressed on purple vinyl.

Redd Kross

Hot Issue - Limited Edition

Merge

***A reissue of Hot Issue, a dozen turn-of-the-century new digs and old finds recorded by REDD KROSS in Hollywood between 1980 and 2007. This collection of top-quality recordings features Redd Kross rarities and focuses on the band’s most explosively creative period from the early ’90s straight through to Researching the Blues, all mastered from the original source tapes for optimal audio fidelity by BILL INGLOT and DAVE SCHULTZ at d2. An energetic compilation created to be a complete play experience with unreleased and rare tracks unearthed from the JEFF MCDONALD archives, Hot Issue is a total must for all Redd Kross fans around the world! Limited edition pressing on green vinyl.

Redd Kross

Teen Babes From Monsanto

Merge

***Hotter than anything printed by a Hearst daily, the 12-song Versión Especial of REDD KROSS' Teen Babes from Monsanto—all art, no filler, direct from the source, pure from the tap—is reissued by Merge Records, The album features specially designed packaging that allows you to choose between two different front covers with just a flip of the wrist! Experience vintage teenaged Redd Kross as presented by Monsanto: 100% genuine, chemically inspired brilliance fueled by processed junk food.

Redd Kross

Teen Babes From Monsanto - Limited Edition

Merge

***Hotter than anything printed by a Hearst daily, the 12-song Versión Especial of REDD KROSS' Teen Babes from Monsanto—all art, no filler, direct from the source, pure from the tap—is reissued by Merge Records, The album features specially designed packaging that allows you to choose between two different front covers with just a flip of the wrist! Experience vintage teenaged Redd Kross as presented by Monsanto: 100% genuine, chemically inspired brilliance fueled by processed junk food. Limited edition pressing on pink vinyl.

Redd Kross

Hot Issue

Merge

***A reissue of Hot Issue, a dozen turn-of-the-century new digs and old finds recorded by REDD KROSS in Hollywood between 1980 and 2007. This collection of top-quality recordings features Redd Kross rarities and focuses on the band’s most explosively creative period from the early ’90s straight through to Researching the Blues, all mastered from the original source tapes for optimal audio fidelity by BILL INGLOT and DAVE SCHULTZ at d2. An energetic compilation created to be a complete play experience with unreleased and rare tracks unearthed from the JEFF MCDONALD archives, Hot Issue is a total must for all Redd Kross fans around the world!