Few bands just out of their teens command respect from the US underground indie scene, but Redd Kross managed to overcome an appallingly wacky choice of name to influence the likes of Sonic Youth and Faith No More. The band's good-natured enthusiasm and ear for a top tune has ensured that this respect has been maintained, although the band's consistency level has been dangerously threatened at times by a failure to keep their lead guitarists on a leash.

Early Redd Kross material was often hilarious, ranging from songs about Linda Blair in The Exorcist to the self-explanatory "Notes & Chords Mean Nothing To Me". 'I wanna break my guitar . . . it won't get me nowhere!' yelped the teenage Jeffrey McDonald, supported by his even younger brother Steven (bass/vocals) and a cast of whoever their mates at school were at the time. Two-chord, sixty-second bursts of pre-pubescent tantrums made up the debut Redd Kross album, Born Innocent (1981), which was cute and chaotic, and helped to establish their underground credibility - the band always saw themselves as a kind of punk Partridge Family.

The band paid tribute to their influences with typical youthful gusto on the Teen Babes From Monsanto mini-album, released on Reckless in 1984, giving the full Redd Kross garage treatment to, among others, David Bowie ("Saviour Machine"), The Stooges ("Ann") and The Rolling Stones ("Citadel"), with a re-recording of "Linda Blair" thrown in for good measure. Surprisingly, for a band so keen on The Beatles, no Beatles material was attempted, although Redd Kross have been known to play live sets consisting entirely of Beatles covers.

Following one more indie album, Neurotica (1987), which veered wildly between the inspired and the overly cheesy, the band's crossover potential was spotted by Atlantic, who put out Third Eye in 1990. The timing of the release was unfortunate, however. The rough edges had been smoothed away, and Redd Kross now sounded far too pop to appeal to the hardcore 'alternative' underground, and yet fell uncomfortably close to the hard rock market, mainly due to lead guitarist Robert Hecker's fretboard noodlings. "Annie's Gone" was a hit single to anyone with a pair of ears, but the band's campy, andro-gynous image probably confused much of their potential audience, and Atlantic decided that one bite of the cherry was all Redd Kross were getting. To add insult to injury, the debut album by Jellyfish (who were heavily influenced by Redd Kross, and even featured Steven McDonald on one track) was doing the business around this time.

However, dejection would never have suited the happy-go-lucky Kross, and a new line-up -Eddie Kurdziel replaced Robert Hecker on guitar, Gere Fennelly was brought in on keyboards and Brian Reitzell on drums - was followed by an indie deal with This Way Up Records, and a higher profile in the UK due to regular tours and appearances at festivals. A couple of singles ("Trance" and "Switchblade Sister") were followed by the confident Phaseshifter (1993). Although "Jimmy's Fantasy" was standard riffola, the follow-up "Lady In The Front Row" single was a deserved Single Of The Week in Melody Maker, drawing comparisons to "Paperback Writer" and the Stone Roses. Never the most prolific of bands, they've been fairly quiet since then.

Taken from the Rough Guide to Rock.
© Rough Guides Ltd. First Edition.
Published Aug 96/ Nov 96 (USA). Distributed by Penguin.