Redd Kross : Classic Or Dud?

Goofy dudes who like power pop, I think? I think there's an element there of wanting to make a ca 1990 mainstream rock video but not really having much of a feel for what that involves. I think that's part of why I like it.

yeah -- the way they were mugging for the camera and general physical/dance moves are really perplexing. are they trying to be nelson? pee wee's playhouse? femme? the second half of the video (like after the woman starts dancing) seems somewhat "ambitious" for the time too, so are they arty?

and then there is the song, which is super catchy and obviously memorable. i think i like them. they seemed ok in the amoeba video.

i guess it makes sense that they are perplexing. it's part of their appeal!

I think there was a strong sense of wanting to rebel against the punk / hardcore scene they emerged from and increasingly express their love for Kiss, The Beatles and The Partridge Family across their general sound/aesthetic

and now? they're not retired right? in the video they seemed like two relatively approachable long haired duders.
are they still rebelling against something from the scene they emerged from 30 years ago? i am not asking to be confrontational, just because i am curious.

this is from 2013 -- they seem pretty buoyant & energetic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ-VB74qNGQ

are they trying to be nelson?

Revisiting 70s rock was pretty much at the heart of the whole mid-80s SST thing but Redd Kross's particular glam and power pop obsessions gave them a certain oblique aesthetic overlap with hair metal to my eyes/ears too, even though I know it wasn't their intention, not that I mind. I always mentally associated them with Poison in a weird way (although I think they're a much better band).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b7/Poison-Look-What-the-Cat-Dragged-In.jpg/220px-Poison-Look-What-the-Cat-Dragged-In.jpg

to me it seems like they are mirroring different facets of femmey behavior, but the impulse to mirror seems similar
one band's wet-n-wild makeup and hair is another band's bangs and hair flipping

and then music is, of course, catchy rock music

They are arty & kitsch & post-modern, integrated into an old fashioned, straight-forward rock'n'roll aesthetic where you put on a good show and you have big choruses and you make an effort to dress glam etc. They had a lot of fun pushing those elements into new and often amusing new directions. They're more like Sparks than Poison.

I don't believe there is an ounce of rebellion against hardcore in what they do. It's still in there and they trot out their early stuff live and rock it like crazy. And they've continue to jam with dudes from that scene. Right now Steve's in Off! with Keith Morris from Black Flag & Jeff's in the Melvins.

Check out their movies which illuminate their whole thing a bit. Desperate Teenage Lovedolls, Lovedoll Superstar and Spirit of 76 are all on youtube.

oh yeah i forgot about a part of the amoeba video -- he said he bought a record for mario rubalcaba, who is the drummer for off!

i think my confusion is tinged with more than hint of "how did they get away with that?!" -- i think the answer is "super catchy rock and roll music", which is always the answer ime :)

i'll check out a redd kross movie. why not?!

I am quite sure they enjoyed flying in the face of what constituted the more macho hardcore punk in the post- Born Innocent / Teen Babes era

They disliked the dogmatic rigidity and machismo of that scene and have affectionately mocked it throughout their career, while still retaining some of the elements of the music.

They made two parody hardcore albums as "Anarchy Six" in the late 80s:
http://punkygibbon.co.uk/bands/a/anarchy6.html

I've never heard Redd Kross but I've got three singles by an unrelated band called Pink Kross

They disliked the dogmatic rigidity and machismo of that scene and have affectionately mocked it throughout their career, while still retaining some of the elements of the music

i appreciate their nerve in addition to the hooky rock music

Pink Kross are connected to Redd Kross. Pink Kross was three Glasgwegian Redd Kross fans. They wrote to RK, who agreed to let them be the support band next time they played in Glasgow. PK hastily put together a short set of garage rock songs and opened up for them at the Cathouse in Glasgow. Then they came back onstage with RK and they did Standing in Front of Poseur together. They just kept going after that.

Live, the year Born Innocent came out. Neither looking or sounding like a hardcore band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGPMa6k4mFk

And if it's hooky rock music you're after, the best album is Phaseshifter.

I don't believe anyone said they were ever a hardcore band

I <3 Pink Kross and also have a few of their singles (never been able to find their album, even on mp3 - £75 on Discogs wtf?) but never knew that story. I mean I assumed the name was a reference to Redd Kross obv.

this song is so beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO9KZeXxRh0

new album underway https://www.instagram.com/p/Be9KnAGHGle/?hl=en&taken-by=stevenmcdonald

Wow, yeah, "Love Is You." Haven't heard that in so many years!

Tbf, I didn't know anything about Sparks when I first heard Redd Kross. Neurotica and Third Eye are probably my favourites (def in that order) but Steven McDonald ranks them near the bottom! I never found Phaseshifter that consistent but I love "Dumb Angel" and "Jimmy's Fantasy" is classic.

Third Eye will always be my fave

Great b-sides and extraneous stuff from that period too. Switchblade Sister was probably their strongest single. And buried on the b-side this is one of my favourite Redd Kross songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvXEbRz7LpQ

Show World is the best record ever made

Tracks from Teen Babes From Monsanto showing up on my Release Radar so checking out the whole thing right now.

"Jimmy's Fantasy" is classic.
Agreed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD01CjUDBVc

Or even
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcIeE28t4QU

Does anyone ever compare them with The Replacements? There is some overlap in acknowledged influences, in particular as seen in the mixing Kiss and Partridge Family covers, but to me the RK versions of this material seem to be more competent, inspired and affectionate. Of course maybe I just finally got sick and tired of The ‘Mats after reading that bio Ned recommended.

Redd Kross are just infinitely more fun and generally likeable

otm ^^ Redd Kross have a much better general attitude (lol) than the Replacements
Forgot how much I loved Annie's Gone this year but this reminded me, so thanks!

that whole album is p good!

these guys are fun. the Replacements are not fun.

Yes, you guys are otm.

So one McDonald brother is married to Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Gos, as mentioned upthread (by Shakey's brother?), and the other to Anna Waronker, also mentioned upthread (by the same guy), of That Dog.

Saw them do an amazing greatest hits set last week. Brilliant as ever. All their albums were reissued on vinyl so they played something from every one, plus some choice covers. Just wonderful.

To me it’s just stuff the McDonalds grew up with, whereas with the mats I sorta feel the cheesy covers is a lot of Westerberg trying to convince the rest of the band to try

I had to wait 18 years to get a chance to see RK live, as I discovered them the year after Show World was released. I was initially disappointed it would be a mere support slot to Melvins (who do nothing whatsoever for me), but they crammed so much into that 50 minute set, including the entire Teen Babes mini-album, that it was definitely worth the extremely long wait.

For the record that’s not my brother (update yr spreadsheet)

They're more like Sparks than Poison.

What is the best Sparks stuff to listen to for a RK fan?

The glam era stuff i suppose? Altho I dont really hear many similarities tbh

(Look What the Cat Dragged In still weirdly feels to me like a mersh version of what RK were doing ca. Third Eye but I'm OK with being the only person who hears it.)

(Third Eye is a lot better, though, imo. More dynamic rhythm section, for one thing.)

Oh, interesting, The McDonalds actually discussed the overlap here, referring to a time they played a gig with Poison, and had ambivalent feelings about them:

JEFF: ...We started hearing about these bands who claimed they were influenced by the New York Dolls. So we were like, "Yeah cool, let's play a gig with them." Because, like you said, at that time, we were the only group who were into that kind of thing. We played our one and only heavy metal show at the Country Club in Reseda. It was Poison, Redd Kross and Leather Wolf.

STEVE: When we heard that Poison called themselves the "Glam Slam Kings of Noise," we thought it was a direct reference to the Runaways song "Queens of Noise." And we thought anyone who is into the Runaways has gotta be cool.

JEFF: We were so excited to see Poison, but when we did we were totally appalled. It was like Dynasty on parade...

STEVE: And not the KISS album, the TV show!

...
JEFF: No, I'm not picking on them. Poison were very entertaining. I mean, c'mon, they're responsible for some of the greatest rock videos of all time--"Unskinny Bop." They brought the whole Ron Jeremy aesthetic into rock 'n' roll videos. They're awesome. And that stuff is coming back, I would never write it off.

Apparently, they also used to enjoy crank calling the Poison guys.

For the record that’s not my brother (update yr spreadsheet)

They brought the whole Ron Jeremy aesthetic into rock 'n' roll videos. T

gross/lol/otm

minus the T
whoops

For me, a whole album of variations on “Zira” would be the greatest glam-metal album ever

Yeah, I love that one.

Yall know about these reissues right? And Dec. tour:
https://reddkross.com/merge-reissuing-two-redd-kross-albums-in-december/

That’s pretty much what inspired the revive. The streaming version thereof at least