Redd Kross: A Teenage Punk

Admittedly, it’s alright to slag off some punk bands as mere hacks. Whenever that argument rears its head, at least a bit of credence needs to be understood. Of course, Steve Jones, from the Sex Pistols, is one of the better guitar players to make a pop record – right, I said it – over the last forty years, but no one seems to recognize his talent. Regardless, there’re as many talented folks playing within the confines of punk’s genre restrictions to count high and lows. But what gets glossed over even more regularly than musical talent is the fact that even some of the younger, dumber bands to ever exist were able to cobble together some semblance of cultural relevancy.

Making mention of your favorite b-movie actor or actress doesn’t necessarily count for too much, but if a dense enough web of interrelated subject matter crops up over the duration of an album, folks should take notice – especially when the album was recorded by some teenagers.

The story that comes along with Red Cross/Redd Kross has been pretty well documented over time, but by way of a brief recap, Steve and Jeff McDonald along with a revolving cast of players, some of which would go on to play with Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, were able to smash up an album’s worth of material that tied itself so closely to television and film that the disc at this late date reads like a catalog of viewing tendencies.

Coming out of the ‘burbs, but the ‘burbs that also birthed the Beach Boys, Redd Kross began performing live on the cusp of punk’s second wave in Los Angeles. Frequently playing with some high visibility talent, the band was able to solidify a deal to record an album not too long after forming as a proper ensemble. Of course, the never ending line-up changes necessitated help from folks just sitting in for the session. But despite that, Born Innocent, while still sounding like a buncha kids, has enough oddly tossed off genre shifts as to make the whole thing an engaging listen.

There’s, obviously, the punk stuff in songs like “White Trash” and “Cellulite City.” But the pop sensibility that the McDonald’s imbibed from watching Return to the Valley of the Dolls and like minded schlock lent the band a tremendous melodic penchant. “Look On Up At The Bottom” is nothing but punk, even as the mid paced track allows the band room to maneuver vocally. It’s still all sloppy and ridiculous, but in a good way. And of course, that chorus comes off like something a matured, professional rock dude would come up with, not drunken, suburbanite punkers from 1980. That’s what makes Redd Kross’ Born Innocent as remarkable as it is, though.

Including such a breadth of influence – musically, visually and culturally – set the band apart from its youngster cohort. And while Redd Kross would come and go over time, taking elongated vacations from performing, this early release is really what the group’s legacy is founded on and not the latter ‘80s attempt to psych nonsense.