Kevin Bronson on May 25th, 2012

1

It’s good bet that most young music fans don’t know Redd Kross from the Red Cross from Christopher Cross (Hint: One had a hit your parents held hands to called “Sailing,” and this is not about him.) It’s Redd Kross that resurfaced this week with the news that the band, conceived in the late ’70s by then-middle schoolers Jeff and Steven McDonald, will release their first album in 15 years, “Researching the Blues,” in August on Merge Records. Long considered one of the underrated/overlooked bands in the annals of SoCal rock (this is dated 1993), Redd Kross is often cited as having influenced commercially successful juggernauts in the grunge and pop-punk arenas. Not only do their old records still stand up, but the players have too, as anybody who witnessed their Coachella 2008 performance or has seen Steven McDonald wield his bass in OFF! can attest. The title track of the new album indicates the McDonalds, Robert Hecker and Roy McDonald have not gone quietly into middle age. Gratifying, considering that nobody would blame Redd Kross in 2012 for thinking about issuing boxed sets instead of new music. Come to think of it, Merge, why couldn’t we have both?

||| Download: “Researching the Blues”