Redd Kross at Turf Club, St Paul (15 July 2024)

Vuart

It’s hard to believe that Redd Kross is celebrating their 45th Anniversary as a band. The band started in 1979 between then-15-year-old Jeff and his 11-year-old brother Steven. Although Redd Kross had various band members come and go, the core members have always been Jeff and Steven.

The band was pretty much inactive, until they announced the re-issue of their debut EP in 2020, via Merge Records, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the EP (which came out in 1980). And now, in 2024, the band announced their 8th studio album, a self-titled double album… and a massive tour to support the new album!

They previously appeared at the Mosswood Meltdown, in Oakland, California, on July 6, 2024: “I’ve always loved the fuzzy rock ‘n roll fantasies of Redd Kross. An L.A. band with a New York heart, they’re all about heavy guitar distortion overlaid with supremely catchy hooks. A bit glam, a bit punk, all fun. Even with the sound problems that riddled their set, I couldn’t not bop my head to “Jimmy’s Fantasy,” with its loud-quiet-loudness and singalong vibe: “Cast the hex with your echo-plex/ You don’t ever wanna have… sex.” No wonder with the rock they bring, that Thurston Moore called them one of the most important bands of the last 30-40 years.”

Opening the Turf Club show was their drummer, Dale Crover… who is from The Melvins. His set is a little weird, with about half his set dedicated to strictly live DJing using vinyls on turntables. Then he stepped out from behind the drum kit and picked up a guitar. He started playing some new songs from his third solo album Glossolalia. He said that he recruited the legendary Tom Waits on the title song.
He explained how it happened: I just asked and he said yes. It’s just that easy, fellas… but in truth, Crover has been around just as long (Crover famously recorded on Nirvana’s original ten-song demo in 1988).

He ended his brief 30-min set with “Jane”.

Redd Kross still has it. Their fanbase is in their 40s to 60s, but they all showed up, from far and wide. It didn’t matter if they had to work the next morning, or were tired from a long day… they all came out and cheered for Redd Kross.

The new songs (particularly “Candy Coloured Catastrophe”) sounded like they never left the 90s! It’s good!

But of course, fans loved the old songs, like 1987’s “Peach Kelli Pop”, which is so good that an all-girls Canada band took their name from the song (see Peach Kelli Pop at Turf Club (24 May 2016).

P.S. The MacDonald Brothers rocked so hard! In my mind, they have the same energy as when they are home or going shopping. Enjoy this new vuart.

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