Redd Kross have always been too good, too perfect, too true, to believe. Mythic. Could this tuneful hardcore punk EP really be the work of a brother band with the 15-year-old on vocals and guitar and the 11-year-old on bass? Did Redd Kross really open for Black Flag? Could Jeff and Steve really have been born and raised in the Beach Boys’ hometown of Hawthorne, California, and did Jeff really see the Beatles live in 1966? Did one of them, dressed in Gene Simmons makeup, really kill a Bruce Springsteen impersonator onstage? Is that really their hair? Could Researching the Blues, their first studio album in 15 years, be not just the hottest thing since Cher went solo but the best start-to-finish Redd Kross record ever?

Somehow, the answer to all the above is improbably, wonderfully, beautifully YES. Long have Redd Kross rocked, and long have critics, devoted fans, Rodney Bingenheimer and fellow musicians from Seattle (Nirvana) to New York (Sonic Youth) to Driftwood, Texas (Butthole Surfers) to Hollywood (everybody) bowed before the Kross and their self-aware pre-spandex Glam bubblegum garage psychedelic Cheap Trick/Kiss/Revolver post-Kim Fowley rock and roll. Degenerate, sweet: tongues in cheek, song-long winks.

Commercial success may never have been theirs (if time and space had been aligned correctly, they’d have been blitzing ballrooms in the early ’70s instead of opening for Stone Temple Pilots in the early ’90s), but Redd Kross have endured and endeared because they’ve always had the best possible attitude: smarts, smiles, and total commitment to live hair-spinning showmanship.

Like fellow legendary Great American John Waters, they’ve devoted their career to making subversive entertainment in a high pop celebrity style, reintroducing in their especially golden late ’80s/early-’90s period such forbidden classic-rock tropes as melodies, harmonies, ripping musicianship, and primary colors-stuff that had (largely) been ditched in the underground rock’s post-punk, No Wave, hardcore, and sensitive-egghead scenes. Redd Kross then spent the ’90s making one great misunderstood record after another until enough shit had caked the fan that in 1997 they pretty much called it quits.

But you never quit being brothers. And so here’s the next Redd Kross album-produced and mixed by younger brother Steve earlier this year after it was mostly written by older brother Jeff in 2007-08, and recorded in that same period with the band’s current lineup, who’ve re-engaged in live performance since being lured back into action by an excitable Spanish promoter.

They’re too nice to say so themselves, but attention must be paid to this band, to this great album, Researching the Blues, which, like a pair of great pants, is tight and the perfect length. By the time you’re two minutes and 51 seconds into the second song, “Stay Away From Downtown,” and the band is breaking into the sha-la-las, you will be running around the room with your hands in the air. As the fourth song, the Brian Wilsonian “Dracula’s Daughters,” ends and the dynamic mid-’60s Beatles jingle “Meet Frankenstein” launches into its first chorus, you will be mass-texting all of your friends with the good news. By the final four songs-”The Nu Temptations” (Stooges-worthy riffs! Cowsills counter-harmonies! And more!), the “Surrender”/Noel ‘n’ Liam rockers “Choose to Play” and “Winter Blues,” and the stunning summer psychedelic power pop that is the closing “Hazel Eyes”-you will know the truth. You tried the rest-but now you’ve had the best. The McDonalds were educated at Rock ‘n’ Roll High, and they’ve stayed true to their school. Here’s to their beautiful reunion! Redd Kross Forever!

Drew is a soul music lover, who has been playing drums and percussion since the third grade. He has played with The Four Tops, Lenny Pickett, The Dramatics, The Miracles, The Contours, The Vandellas, Freda Payne, Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, Dennis Coffey, The Velvelettes, Spyder Turner, Melvin Davis, Eddie Kirkland, and countless orchestras, jazz ensembles, and gospel choirs. He has studied under Uriel Jones, Bill Ransom, Mike Clark, John Blackwell, Tony Moreno, Jamey Haddad, Lenny Pickett, Mike Richmond, and Dafnis Prieto. In the summer of 2009, he worked at Motown / UMe under Harry Weinger as a ProTools intern and Pre-Production Engineer. He is currently touring with his favorite band, The Four Tops, working on songs for his own debut album, and writing articles for Modern Drummer Magazine. For more information, go to www.DSdrums.com, or e-mail him at Drew@DSdrums.com

Drew’s first encounter with music came through his mother, a piano accompany / voice major who began teaching him piano at an early age. On the weekends, she sang in the “No Name Band,” a cover band consisting of Cleveland lawyers. While the songs by the Beatles and the Stones were nice, the songs Drew really fell in love with were those by the Tops, the Tempts, Martha Reeves, and Junior Walker. Looking to get away from the monotony of scales, he found himself watching Brent Buckley play the drums. While trying to learn all of the beats, he started listening to more and more Motown music. In fourth grade, he began taking lessons from Cleveland drummer Scott Flowers. In fifth grade he began playing drums in school, starting with orchestral percussion, and moving to the jazz ensembles. Throughout high school he played drums for various ensembles and choirs. During his senior year, Drew led the drumline, playing tenors in the marching band. Under the instruction of Bill Ransom, he began to dig deeper, learning everything from marimba to merengue, in both private lessons and Bill’s Cleveland Music School Settlement percussion ensembles. Throughout his high school years, Drew’s love and appreciation for soul music continued to grow.

He fell in love with the music of Earth Wind & Fire, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Tower of Power, Smokey Robinson, the Funk Brothers, and many more. After studying during one summer with John Blackwell at Berklee College of Music in Boston, he was presented with a difficult choice. He knew that soul music was what he wanted to pursue, and preferably in a formal educational setting. He narrowed it down to continuing R&B studies at Berklee, or learning the ins and outs of jazz at New York University. With the help of Cleveland drummers Bill Ransom and Jamey Haddad, Drew chose New York. He has since played in ensembles with Lenny Pickett, Mordy Ferber, Ron McClure, Joe Beaty, Mike Richmond, Dave Pietro. Some of the teachers he has studied under include Mike Clark, Dafnis Prieto, Lenny Pickett, and Tony Moreno.

While trying to glean as much as he can from the professors at NYU, Drew has also surrounded himself with the music he loves, playing with his R&B outfit Drew Schultz and the New FAMF, and the NYU All University Gospel Choir. In 2007, the New FAMF was accepted as an All Square organization, becoming the official R&B Ensemble at New York University. In the summer of ‘07, the Mortal Quintet, a group Drew played with consisting of five NYU freshmen, traveled to Costa Rica to play under the direction of the NYU Jazz Department head Dr. Dave Schroeder.

Drew currently plays drums with his role models, The Four Tops. Longtime Tops and Temptations drummer Benjamin Corbett, original Funk Brother Uriel Jones, and musical director George Rountree have provided welcome guidance and inspiration. Drew is greatly enjoying playing and learning all he can from his fellow students, teachers, and the musicians that inspire him to continue.

True Notes since 1987.
Our Gift To You. Stream PASSAGE, The EP: http://hyperurl.co/passage

Ivor Novello Award-winner and Mercury, Grammy, and BRIT-nominated artist Lianne La Havas unveils her new single ‘Disarray.’ The track showcases a blend of emotional depth and striking vocal delivery, set against sparse, ethereal finger-plucked electric guitar —a signature of La Havas’ style. 

“The song felt very intimate, almost like a secret just for me,” says La Havas. “It’s about vulnerability, honesty, and giving listeners a window into a moment of my life.”

Over the course of her career, La Havas has released three acclaimed albums — Is Your Love Big Enough? , Blood and her self-titled Lianne La Havas  (which won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Album). She has collaborated with leading international artists and captivated audiences worldwide with her spellbinding live performances.

Released via her own Καλό μήνα (Kalo Mina) Records. La Havas embarks on an exciting new chapter, broadening her sonic horizons while remaining rooted in vulnerability and artistry.

The Walter Brothers. 

Contact: thefamilyrain@gmail.com

Singer/Songwriter based in Los Angeles and Chicago.  Tracks include guitars, keyboards, bass, ukelele, and harmonica with vocals and harmonies, solo guitar instrumentals, and vintage band recordings.

John Robenalt is following