Album Of The Week: Redd Kross Researching The Blues

Culturally, at least, it's hard to imagine a worse cultural moment for a Redd Kross comeback. Think about all the strains of underground rock currently running shit -- orchestral chamber-pop twinkle, dazed reverb-damaged whoosh, elegant pop-soul groan, muffled post-chillwave thump -- and you'll notice that none of them have the tiniest bit to do with this band's decades-deep punk-rock shimmy. Even the punk rock that takes up indie-blog pixel-space these days is miles removed from anything this band ever did. That stuff is, for the most part, rickety tantrum-blurt stuff, and Redd Kross co-leader Steve McDonald knows that very well; he's taking advantage of it by serving as OFF!'s bass player. But even though they played their first show as middle-schooler Black Flag openers, Redd Kross have never had anything to do with that. Their version of punk rock is the kind that they heard as tiny children on KROQ before Cali hardcore was a thing: Strutty, glammy hairflip-rock with supercharged rhythm sections and hooks for days. That's what they do, and it's not what anyone else does anymore. And it's impossible to write off because they're incredibly fucking good at it. So if Researching The Blues, the band's first album in 15 years, doesn't fit cleanly onto anyone's 2012 playlists, more the better -- at least someone is getting it done like this.