Thursday, September 1, 2016

Redd Kross: Hot Issue (Redd Kross Fashion Records/2016)



Hawthorne, California's Redd Kross were inactive for inactive for nearly ten years. After the band's tour for 1997's Show World, they quietly went on hiatus. Lead guitarist Eddie Kurdziel passed away of a heroin overdose in 1999. Jeff McDonald formed Ze Malibu Kids and Steve McDonald for the Steve McDonald Group. In 2006 the band formally reunited with classic Neurotica-era members Roy McDonald (no relation) and Robert Hecker. This band went on to record the critically acclaimed Researching The Blues album on Merge Records in 2012.

Throughout all of this activity/inactivity the band recorded a wealth of material. Some of which have included on Hot Issue, which is a self-released album in a limited edition of 500 copies. It comes in magazine-styled artwork and includes a download code.

Taking tracks that have been both previously released elsewhere and unreleased from various time periods and compiling them. The results could have been pretty scatter-shot, however the results make for a surprisingly cohesive listen.




“Switchblade Sister” was a single released in the UK, Spain and Canada in the Summer of 1993. By all rights, it probably should have been included on the band's Phaseshifter album, released that September. Roger Joseph Manning of Jellyfish co-produces and appears on “Born To Love You” (which was a free MP3 download in the early 2000's) and “It's A Scream” which appeared in the horror-spoof Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The Thirteenth. “Starlust” appeared on the Jabberjaw compilation album. “Puss N Boots”, the New York Dolls cover, is from the 1981 Hell Comes To Your House comp, when the band was still known as Red Cross. “That Girl” originally appeared as the B-Side to the “Mess Around” single. “Motorboat” is a Kim Fowley cover that was on the SMG This Is Not A Revolution...This Is A Mass Awakening! EP. “Don't Take Your Baby Downtown” is the original version of “Stay Away From Downtown”.


If you're a fan of the Kross and can find it, by all means pick it up.  

Here's The Video Review:



Thanks to: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. Atomic Pop Monkey and Redd Kross,

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