4 stars out of 5
This rock doc checks all the boxes: sex, drugs, sibling rivalry, breaking up, getting the band back together. There’s one tiny problem: It’s quite possible you have no idea who they are. Yes, lovers of glammy power pop absolutely worship Redd Kross, and record store ghouls have certainly come across an album or two or five in Miscellaneous R. But to the general public, I’m not quite sure. I remember in 2002, brother Steven McDonald got a lot of attention in the national press for adding bass to songs from the White Stripes’ album White Blood Cells, and releasing them online as Redd Blood Cells. And that’s not even mentioned in the documentary!
And yet this obscurity is one of the fascinating aspects of the film. It’s not that they didn’t want fame — at least Steven did, Jeff not so much — and it’s not like they never had opportunities. The band krossed paths with the Go-Go’s and the Coppolas and the L.A. punk scene and Nirvana etc. etc., signed to a major label, played on big TV shows, were cast in a Hollywood movie. But sometimes fate was fickle, and sometimes the McDonald boys just blew it, turning left when they should’ve turned right, not willfully sabotaging themselves, just simply being themselves, occasionally looking back and wondering “Why’d we do that?”
The other real selling point of this doc is the incredible music, decades and decades of should’ve-been hits. If you’ve never heard a Redd Kross song, there’s a very high chance that you will instantaneously become a fan. They seemingly effortlessly churn out these super-melodic, crunchy gems. You’ll want more and more! Off to Miscellaneous R or a streaming app near you. And the story of finding and honing this songcrafting gift — after starting out as goofball southern-California teens, steeped in ’70s pop culture — is so fun to watch.
Beyond Go-Go’s Vicki Peterson and Charlotte Caffey and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, director Andrew Reich doesn’t have a lot of star power to work with in his interviews. (Though the more of a music nerd you are, the more people you’ll recognize.) But one delightful thing going for Reich: Everybody seems totally happy to talk about Jeff and Steven McDonald. In addition to the boys themselves, we meet their parents, childhood friends, bandmates, musician friends/fans, and everyone is smiling when discussing Redd Kross. Yes we learn of troubles and some darkness but it’s the pure joy of Redd Kross that always seems to win out, and that keeps them going even today.
being underrated is overrated
Jack Silbert, curator