Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the addition of friends Greg Hetson on guitar and John Stielow on drums, the band's first gig was opening for Black Flag. The band changed their name to Red Cross in 1979, and in 1982 changed the spelling due to threatened legal action by the charitable organization International Red Cross. The band has since released eight albums and three EPs. Their style was originally hardcore punk, but they have since branched out to touch on various rock and roll styles.

Career

Red Cross

In April 1979, the band had their first practice in the living room of original drummer, John Stielow's parent's home. They eventually changed the band name to Red Cross, which was allegedly inspired by the masturbation scene in the film The Exorcist. They soon began working on their 1980 debut self-titled EP. Eventually, Hetson left to join the Circle Jerks (and later Bad Religion) and Reyes left for Black Flag.

In 1990, Redd Kross signed with Atlantic Records, releasing Third Eye,

Dale Crover joined Redd Kross on drums fulltime.

2020s

On June 26, 2020, the band reissued their debut EP on Merge Records.

Steven McDonald and Redd Kross were included in a feature article for the 25th anniversary of TapeOp magazine.

The documentary Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story received its Los Angeles premiere at the Don't Knock the Rock Festival on May 23, 2024.

On June 28, 2024, Redd Kross released its 8th studio album, a self-titled double album, featuring singles "Candy Coloured Catastrophe" and "Too Good to Be True."

thumb|Redd Kross at Electric Ballroom, London (August 12, 2025)

The brothers released a memoir, Now You’re One of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross, in October 2024, co-written with Dan Epstein and published by Omnibus Press.

Side projects

The McDonald brothers collaborated with Astrid McDonald (Jeff's daughter with Charlotte Caffey, guitarist for The Go-Go's) and Anna Waronker (Steve's wife, frontwoman of That Dog) on a side project. Performing as Ze Malibu Kids, they released the album Sound It Out in 2002.

Both McDonald brothers appeared with David Cassidy in the comedy film The Spirit of '76.

Soundtracks

Redd Kross songs appear on the soundtracks to Desperate Teenage Lovedolls, Good Burger, PCU, Bordello of Blood, An American Werewolf in Paris, and Varsity Blues. Their song "1976" plays over the end credits of the 1990 movie Spirit of '76. They contributed one song "It's a Scream" for the 2000 film Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The Thirteenth but the soundtrack was never released and the song itself wasn't heard until it appeared on Hot Issue in 2016. The song "Uglier" was licensed and used in the film Hits by David Cross.

Discography

Albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions

!rowspan="2"|Title

!rowspan="2"|Year

!rowspan="2"|Label

!colspan="1"|Peak chart positions

|-

!scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:85%"| AUS<br />

!scope="col" style="width:3em; font-size:85%"| UK<br />

|-

| 1990

| "Annie's Gone"

| style="text-align:center;"|16

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| Third Eye

|-

| 1992

| "Trance"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|178

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| -

|-

|rowspan="3"| 1993

| "Switchblade Sister"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| -

|-

| "Jimmy's Fantasy"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|133

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|rowspan="3"| Phaseshifter

|-

| "Lady in the Front Row"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|97

| style="text-align:center;"|—

|-

|rowspan="2"| 1994

| "Visionary"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|75

|-

| "Yesterday Once More"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|84

| style="text-align:center;"|45

| If I Were a Carpenter

|-

|rowspan="3"| 1997

| "Get Out Of Myself"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|63

|rowspan="3"| Show World

|-

| "Mess Around"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|84

|-

| "Secret Life"

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|—

| style="text-align:center;"|95

|}

Compilation appearances

  • The Siren (Posh Boy) (1980)
  • Includes the entire Red Cross EP
  • Public Service EP (Smoke 7) (1981)
  • Includes "Cease to Exist", "Everyday There's Someone New" and "Kill Someone You Hate"
  • Hell Comes to Your House (Bemin Brain/Time Bomb) (1981)
  • Includes "Puss 'n' Boots"
  • American Youth Report (Invasion Records) (1982)
  • Includes "Notes and Chords Mean Nothing to Me"
  • Enigma Variations (Enigma/Virgin) (1985)
  • Includes "Citadel"
  • The Melting Pot (SST) (1988)
  • Billed as Revolution 409 performs covers of The Osmonds - Crazy Horses & The Sylvers, Boogie Fever.
  • Billed as Ledd Kross performs a cover of Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
  • The Spirit of 76 - Original Soundtrack (Rhino) (1991)
  • Includes "1976"
  • Freedom of Choice: Yesterday's New Wave Hits as Performed by Today's Stars (City Slang/Caroline) (1992)
  • Band covers The Go-Gos song "How Much More"
  • Shared Vision – The Songs of the Beatles (Hammer and Lace/Mercury) (1993)
  • Band covers Beatles song "It Won't Be Long"
  • If I Were a Carpenter (A & M) (1994)
  • Redd Kross performs a cover of "Yesterday Once More"
  • Poptopia! Power Pop Classics of the '90s (Rhino) (1997)
  • Includes "Lady in the Front Row"
  • KISS Tribute in Japan (Mercury) (1998)
  • With Kanako Nakayama, Redd Kross performs a cover of "Hard Luck Woman"

References

  • Redd Kross official website