Go-Go-ing strong

Redd Kross still kick up the thrills

by Matt Ashare

Alice in Chains have a song whose title they resemble called "Sludge Factory," and Redd Kross have one called "Bubblegum Factory." It's really that simple. Back in 1980, when a particularly violent strain of punk was breaking out in the suburbs of LA, the pubescent So-Cal Brothers McDonald -- singer/guitarist Jeff and guitarist/bassist Steve -- teamed up with future members of Black Flag (Ron Reyes) and the Circle Jerks/Bad Religion (Greg Hetson) and wrote candy-coated punk nuggets like "Annette's Got the Hits" and "I Hate My School." When a decade later grunge began to erupt from the Great Northwest, Redd Kross slicked up their crunchy riffage on the radio-friendly major-label debut Third Eye (Atlantic), which celebrated the spirit of "1976" and "Elephant Flares" with a remarkable and, in retrospect, refreshing lack of irony.

Now twice as old as they were then, and still younger than many of their music-playing peers, Jeff (32) and Steve (29) are back with another disc that's likely to promote tooth decay. Although others who have toyed with '70s kitsch -- I'm thinking of Urge Overkill here -- have found themselves up shtick's creek without a paddle, Redd Kross, who are opening for the Presidents of the United States of America tonight at Avalon, still manage to float along with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of tuneful retro-fuel. It's as if the McDonald's innocent enthusiasm had simply outlasted the statute of limitation for novelty acts. Or maybe it's just that candy has a much longer shelf life than corn. Either way, Redd Kross have retained the uncanny ability to evoke the thrill of rocking out to "I Want You To Want Me" on the radio when you were young enough not to care whether Cheap Trick were cool or not.

The new Show World (This Way Up/Mercury) is the band's first disc in close to four years, if you don't count the EP singles collection 2500 Redd Kross Fans Can't Be Wrong (Sympathy for the Record Industry; 1993). But Jeff and Steve have been keeping busy. Jeff completed a solo album that's due for release later this year, and he and his wife, former Go-Go Charlotte Caffey, now have a two-year-old daughter. And Steve produced Imperial Teen's critically acclaimed London Records debut last year.

"Jeff says our hiatuses are longer than most people's careers," jokes Steve over the phone from Mercury's New York offices. "But we really took a year off between touring on the last album and starting the new one. At first, since we hadn't been playing live, it was kind of like when the Beatles made Let It Be and forgot what the whole band trip was all about. So it was trying at times."

Keyboardist Gere Fennelly, who'd played a prominent role on 1993's Phaseshifter (This Way Up/Mercury), quit midway through the sessions, returning Redd Kross to a guitar-driven foursome with Steve on bass, Eddie Kurdziel handling lead guitar, Jeff on rhythm and vocals, and Brian Reitzell drumming. If the band have shown any signs of maturing, it's only in the sense that they've added a little Neil Diamond mellow-drama to their nifty bag of Cheap Tricks. The acoustic-tinged "My Secret Life" has all the stoic splendor of "I Am, I Said," though Fennelly's elegant piano embellishments and the syrupy background vocals also suggest the Carpenters.

Spotting the influences and allusions is always half the fun of a Redd Kross album. "Mess Around," a tune about outgrowing one's penchant for womanizing, is buoyed by the distinctly Byrdsian jangle of a 12-string guitar. "Stoned" is a high-school bad-girl anthem worthy of the early Cars, with a synth hook and flashy guitar riffing to prove it, though Jeff will never be as art-school cool with his vocals as Ric Ocasek. The disc's best track, the surging power ballad "Girl God," reminds me in tone and perspective of Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" without the piano. And there are hints of the Go-Gos' playful charm in the bouncy melody of "Ugly Town."

Jeff politely corrects me on that last one. It seems that "Get Out of Myself" is the one that's supposed to sound like the Go-Go's. "I love the song `Head over Heels,' " he admits, "and I've always wanted a song like that. So finally I just went right to the source."

Sure enough, it was co-written by Caffey.

Redd Kross open for the Presidents of the United States of America tonight, March 13, at Avalon. Call 262-2424.