Redd Kross - Third Eye

I first heard of Redd Kross when they were referred to in connection with Jellyfish around the time of the latter's Bellybutton album. Even though I was working in a record shop I was unable to track anything down - Redd Kross's most recent album, Third Eye, had been deleted almost as soon as it was released due to the presence on the cover of a naked female body. Disguised with a mask, the body in question apparently belonged to someone famous who had not granted permission for the photo to be used (Cher and Brooke Shields were both rumoured to be the complainant). So I was surprised not just to see that the album has recently been reissued but that it also has the same cover (and to be honest, a very quick google search has failed to reveal any evidence of the above story and I have no recollection of where I first heard it).

Regardless, it was a long time before I got hold of a copy of Third Eye, eventually picking it up in a second-hand shop in Bristol. Gene Simmons called it right when he said that Redd Kross were the perfect mix of KISS and the Beatles (in fact, isn't that one Mr Paul Stanley supplying backing vocals on 1976?*), for even when the band rock that little bit harder they do so without losing their pop sensibilities.

The album's hit that never was - Bubblegum Factory - was notable for the fact that Redd Kross rarely played it live; the one time I saw them attempt it (at the now defunct Subterranea in Ladbroke Grove, bowing down to requests/demands from the audience) they struggled to make it to the chorus and eventually abandoned it. To effectively throw away a song that good illustrates the strength of their repertoire.

There followed a surge in interest in the UK around 1993/4 but, like Jellyfish, Redd Kross never made the jump to the next level and remained a 'cult' band, finally splitting in the late 90s (around 15 years after forming when the MacDonald brothers were aged 11 and 14) before reforming a couple of years ago, hence the long-awaited reissue. Don't let it get away this time.



*No! It's guitarist Robert Hecker doing a fine impression. Thanks to 20Eyes for correcting that .... (29/10/08)