It came from Hollyweird, a fearsome monster dressed as a beautifully seductive selection of pop songs, luring the unwitting and the unhinged to share in it's immortal delights, whilst simultaneously depraving and corrupting everyone who heard it. It called itself 'Show World', just like an ideal homes exhibition would, in order to attract all the shiny happy people inside. And it was devised and orchestrated by REDD KROSS.

REDD KROSS - a name now synonymous with musical deviancy of the highest order. Brainchild of the McDonald brothers, Jeff (vocals/guitar) and Steve (vocals/bass), who are assisted in their crimes by drummer Brian Reitzell and guitarist Eddie Kurdziel, this band have been the terror of Los Angeles county since their debut gig in 1979, when the oldest band member was 15 and the youngest was 11. Now after a spell spent plotting and playing in the San Fernando valley, REDD KROSS are about to release the follow up to 1993's acclaimed 'Phaseshifter' and their greatest album to date, 'Show World' on 'This Way Up.'

Not that they have been idle in the intervening period. Despite suffering the departure of keyboard player Gere Fennelly, midway through the recording of the album to which she has contributed, the resolve of the Kross has never been stronger. As well as working on 'Show World', Jeff has become a father to Astrid and has also given life to a forthcoming solo album, recorded in his "terror" basement. Steve has produced the 'Sea Sick' album by Imperial Team, who are led by Faith No More's Roddy Bottum, whilst, not to be outdone, Eddie has also twiddled the knobs for LA power pop trio Fuzz Bubble. And Brian has been assembling an album of drummers, including Steve Perkins, and the Melvins' Dale Crover. Their allure is at its peak of irresistibility.

"Show World" demonstrates a band at the height of their creative and instinctive powers, shaming practioners of Britpop "craftsmanship" by plugging into the socket of delinquent excitement that instantly short fuses the slavish need to recreate what has long been consigned to history. "One Chord Progression" states their intention clearly. If everyone else is going to be conformist, then REDD KROSS are here to shake their lazy equilibrium. "Show World" is as inspiring as the music that first drove the KROSS to take up their instruments & their stance against suburbia; in "Vanity Mirror", "Teen Competition" and "Follow The Leader" their scathing commentary and acerbic humour are honed in tightly to searing melodies and a bad-ass glam racket. "My Secret Life" recalls the poisoned pop of Lee Hazlewood orchestrated by Burt Bacharach; an ambition many may have harboured, but only REDD KROSS have realised, a point further hammered home by the sublime songwriing skills displayed in "Ugly Town". This is a sound to fill stadiums like no-one since Jim Jones, a sound of deliverance, decadence and intelligence that fulfils every promise that REDD KROSS have ever made.

Many have fallen at the feet of the Kross before. Roman Copolla produced a film about them. Gene Simmons demanded to join them onstage to play 'Deuce'. David Cassidy and Debbie Gibson name drop them constantly, and Stone Temple Pilots & Sonic Youth listen to them continuously. No one is safe. Their previous five albums : 'Born Innocent' (1981), 'Teen Babes from Monsanto' (1984), 'Neurotica' (1987), 'Third Eye' (1991) and Phaseshifter' (1993) - have written in androgynous glamour and stage blood and alternative history to American Alternative music. They have made use of every extreme available: bubblegum pop, punk rock, pre-spandex glam, incredibly strange film music, and created from it an alternative reality that distorts their surroundings like a fairground mirror. And their seemingly simple songwriting hooks, utilised to full effect on "Show World" are their most powerful weapon of all. Resistance would be futile.