I'm pleased to find that Redd Kross are selling signed copies of Jeff and Steve McDonald's autobiography tonight on the merch stand. Redd Kross and the McDonald brothers have a long history, having been involved in the early '80s hardcore punk scene, the late '80s college rock scene and the '90s grunge/alt rock scene. If you've heard the episode of 'Turned Out A Punk' which they did, then you'll know how many great stories they have. Before I get home and get the opportunity to read it though, we have Redd Kross themselves and the support to enjoy.
The support is another legendary lifer in current Redd Kross and Melvins drummer and ex-member of countless bands including Nirvana and Shrinebuilder, Dale Crover. Tonight he is playing a short acoustic set. It is quite aggressively played but is still a bit rootsier than Melvins mainman King Buzzo's solo material. His vocals are probably more suited to the noise rock which his bands usually play. Musically, it has an acoustic grunge thing going on which reminds me of Monster Magnet's more acoustic based material. It's still hard to escape the feeling that this is essentially The Melvins without the distortion. Whatever it is, it's fairly hypnotic.
Redd Kross open with the upbeat power pop of 'Switchblade Sister'. It's indebted to Cheap Trick and the vocal harmonies are great. An excellent 'Stay Away From Downtown' marries Sex Pistols punk chords with pop choruses, whilst 'Uglier' is driving alt rock. 'Huge Wonder' cheekily pilfers a riff from Sabbath's 'War Pigs'and paints it in dayglo colours. It is utterly brilliant. The punky 'Emanuelle Insane' is a little too simplistic though. 'Pretty Please Me' rides a blistering post-punk beat and has a glorious melodic chorus. The terrific 'I'll Take Your Word For It' is pure '60s flower power. The band have always been excellent at taking various styles and adding tons of melody, and tonight is a great reminder of this. The McDonald brothers are a super entertaining duo. Steve, in particular, is constantly engaging with the audience and is hilarious. There's plenty of talk about the Beatles, as they're staying at George Harrison's childhood home tonight (an Airbnb) which is pretty crazy. The heavy psych of 'Candy Coloured Catastrophe' is much more powerful than on record. An urgent 'Jimmy's Fantasy' is superb. A fantastic 'Lady In The Front Row' begs the question of why they weren't massive, as they were essentially The Monkees for the grunge generation. The band talk about how hard it is to book shows these days as promoters have no idea who they are, and the venue is probably only half full tonight. 'Neurotica' and 'Peach Kelli Pop' both bring the psych in impressive fashion, whilst 'Born Innocent' brings Jellyfish with an added punk rock attitude to mind. As a unit, the whole band is impressive. Individually, Steve's bass playing is fluid and technical whilst Dale Crover is an absolute powerhouse behind the drumkit. 'Linda Blair' is a blast. However, 'Annette's Got The Hits' aping of The Cramps isn't as fun as it should be, another minor misstep. A super cover of The Osmonds' 'Crazy Horses' and an even better cover of Kiss' 'Deuce' redeem them and closes the show in a spectacularly fun fashion.
Redd Kross ****
Dale Crover ***
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