Emerging from humble beginnings in suburban LA, two brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald took their rock ‘n’ roll fantasy, ran with it, and wound up becoming Redd Kross, one of the most influential American bands of their time.

Published in Australia on January 8 2025 by Omnibus Press, Now You’re One Of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross tells their definitive story. An in-depth and riveting tale told in the voices of the talented and tempestuous brothers, in this new book the McDonalds have teamed up with music journalist Dan Epstein to tell their wild, hilarious and gloriously star-spangled tale with honesty and humour. Pre-order it HERE.

Over four decades of joyful service to rock’n’roll have seen Redd Kross evolve into a killer pop-rock outfit, dealing in dayglo power-chords, choruses as tall as skyscrapers and a lyric sheet thick with acid couplets and arch pop-cultural references. In 1979 they started their own group in their hometown of Hawthorne LA, and soon found themselves opening shows for notorious scene pioneers Black Flag. Jeff McDonald was 15, his brother Steven only 11. But that didn’t stop their group from becoming one of the most remarkable, enduring and unique outfits punk rock ever belched up.

Cut to 2024, and Redd Kross are celebrating their 45th birthday – an important milestone for any band whose heart pulses at 45rpm – with a multimedia extravaganza that includes this new biography, a new album and a documentary.

“It’s our 45th anniversary,” says Steven, “but we’re still defining who we are. And it feels like the beginning of something. It’s so exciting to us that there’s still more to discover. We’re publishing the memoir, the movie’s coming out, we’re releasing a new album – and getting the machine started up again makes me nervous, and that’s thrilling. Our third act is going to be badass.”

Now You’re One of Us is preceded by the eponymously titled double album (out now) and a new rockumentary directed by Andrew Reich – Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story.

“I’ll Take Your Word For It,” a perfect blast of ’60s-shaded harmony and guitar tangle, was released as a single last week accompanied by a glorious outdoor video filmed in Los Angeles in view of the iconic Hollywood sign, directed by journalist, photographer, and videographer Steve Appleford, who is incidentally the cinematographer of the brilliant documentary Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, directed by Andrew Reich, which is currently wowing audiences at festival screenings. According to Steven McDonald:  “‘I’ll Take Your Word For It’ although based on real events it is not about any specific person. It’s an amalgamation of several types, that so-called friend that always seems to bring up the ex, or perhaps a working relationship that ended poorly despite your best and most earnest attempts at civility.  ‘Are you my friend, are you my foe? I don’t know.’ Adding: The video I suppose offers one possible antidote for this situation. When you’re contemplating telling your nemesis to take a hike, maybe it’s smarter to put on your best suit, matching bass, and matching band (if you’re as lucky as I am) and take a hike yourself. That’s what I did and it made me feel so much better. And with that I’ll say check out ‘I’ll Take Your Word For It.’  We hope you dig it.” 

“I’ll Take Your Word For It” caught the attention of Rolling Stone upon its release, who remarked on how the song “recalls the sunny West Coast harmony and jangle of Sixties rock, though the chorus still lands a few punk-infused punches.”

“Born Innocent,” was released as a single in May. Not to be confused with the debut studio album of the same name from 1982, the song “Born Innocent” closes out Redd Kross, and is something of a theme song for the band, detailing Redd Kross’s 1979 inception, when Jeff McDonald (then 15) and his brother Steven (then only 11), two school-kids all hopped-up on punk-rock, started their own group in their hometown of Hawthorne, Los Angeles (birthplace of the Beach Boys) and soon found themselves opening shows for notorious scene pioneers Black Flag. 2024 marks Redd Kross’s 45th birthday – an important anniversary for any group whose heart pulses at 45RPM – and the brothers are celebrating the event with a veritable multimedia extravaganza.

“Born Innocent” has been celebrated by the likes of Brooklyn Vegan, Consequence, and FLOOD among others, and appears in the closing credits of the brilliant documentary Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, directed by Andrew Reich, who also directed the video that accompanied the single’s release, which features footage from the must-see documentary. There’s also a memoir, Now You’re One Of Us, due in October, author Dan Epstein telling the group’s story in the McDonalds’ unmistakable (and occasionally contrary) voices.

Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, which has been making the festival rounds, and had its L.A. premiere last month, kicking-off 2024’s Don’t Knock the Rock film festival (programmed by filmmaker Allison Anders and her daughter, music supervisor Tiffany Anders), and was covered by Variety who said: “The story of Redd Kross, the most underrated band of their generation, is told in fascinating detail…they’re legit OGs on any number of levels…the group’s remarkable story is rendered in vivid and focused detail, which moves at a steady clip and impressively avoids many possible rabbit holes…it not only contextualizes the group and its influence, there are little-known, brain-busting details” and The Los Angeles Times who said: “‘Born Innocent’ spotlights the knockabout chemistry between brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald, positioning their band Redd Kross as an essential influence on four decades of rock in Los Angeles. Unexpectedly inspirational for the way they have soldiered on in the face of a teenage kidnapping, substance abuse, the ups-and-downs of the music business and more, the brothers emerge with their love for music and each other intact.”  Check HERE for more information on upcoming screenings.

“Born Innocent” was preceded by the April announcement of Redd Kross which was accompanied by the rip-roaring lead single “Candy Coloured Catastrophe” complemented by a splatter-painted video directed by Gilbert Trejo, starring the McDonald brothers, along with Dale Crover (Steven’s bandmate in Melvins) and Astrid McDonald (who fronts Side Eyes and happens to be Jeff’s daughter). “Candy Coloured Catastrophe” opens Redd Kross with the perfect vibe: an itchy, unforgettable acid-pop nugget, taking impish swings at what Steven describes as “the fine arts career of a well-known pop star who we love-love-love, and also love to make fun of.” “Our message is, ‘What is art?’,” adds Jeff. “Who gets to decide? And maybe these rock-stars who suddenly decide they’re fine artists and Hollywood actors who decide they’re punk-rock singers should, you know, stay in their lane.” “Candy Coloured Catastrophe” caught the attention of Brooklyn Vegan, Consequence, Exclaim!, Punknews, Stereogum and many others upon its release.

These years of joyful service to rock’n’roll have seen Redd Kross evolve into a killer pop-rock concern, dealing in dayglo power-chords, choruses as tall as skyscrapers and a lyric sheet thick with acid couplets and arch pop- cultural references their loyal following will gobble up like quaaludes.

Tell the McDonald brothers they’ve cut their best record 45 years deep into their career, and they grin with the confidence of dudes who know they’re on a hot streak. “We grew up with industry gatekeepers telling us you’re only allowed to do what we do up to a certain age, that if you haven’t attained some certain status of success it’s time to hang up the dream,” says Steven. “But I’m still hungry and ambitious, trying to figure out what I want to say and how to say it. I give the correct amount of fucks. I’m ready to start our third act, and for it to be magnificent.”

The roots of the new album lay in their previous full-length, 2019’s Beyond The Door – or, more accurately, the pandemic’s ethering of a planned Redd Kross world tour in support of that record. “We were bummed Beyond The Door had to die with the advent of Covid,” nods Jeff. But, as you might expect from such pop-culture mavens, for the brothers McDonald there was one silver-lining to the gloom of the pandemic era: Peter Jackson’s documentary, The Beatles: Get Back. Like all of us, the duo pored over every frame of the limited series: every bum note and moment of brilliance, every tetchy squabble and pregnant silence. “I got very inspired by this bird’s eye-view upon their process,” says Steven. “Get Back demystified it: ‘Oh, when they’re writing a song, they sound a bit crappy too, just slugging away.'”

Suitably inspired, Steven wrote a batch of new songs in isolation and sent them over to Jeff, who was honing a clutch of his own tunes. “It was a fit of inspiration,” says Steven. “I put the fire under Jeff’s ass. He realized if he didn’t step up, I’d write the whole album myself.” Indeed, as soon as they were allowed, the brothers began convening in the bijou studio at Steven’s house and began writing a bunch more songs to join the solo tunes they’d already penned. They worked hard, yes, but the emphasis was on fun: they’d spend most of the sessions jamming on favorites by their heroes, or watching YouTube clips of historic moments of musical brilliance (and also copious documentaries about cults), then suddenly dash out another sublime power-pop nugget in the last 20 minutes before Jeff set off for dinner with his family. Don’t knock the process: the results speak for themselves.

Tunes written, the brothers were itching to record, but Dale Crover, the legendary Melvins sticksman who drummed on Beyond The Door, had recently undergone spinal surgery and couldn’t step up. Instead, Steven reached out to his friend Josh Klinghoffer, perhaps best-known for his years as guitarist with Red Hot Chili Peppers and as a touring member of Pearl Jam and Jane’s Addiction, but hereafter to be most-famed as the drummer and producer of Redd Kross. The pair first met two decades ago, as members of Beck’s backing band, and later played together with the inimitable Sparks. “Josh is 13 years younger than me, and he’s like the younger brother I never had,” says Steven. “He’s a super-talented musician who’s really good at being supportive, and he’s really in-tune with a band’s internal dynamics. And he had us on our best behavior, not wanting to disappoint Josh! His studio is like the most incredible vintage guitar shop – he would take great delight in pulling out some rare instrument or effects box to inspire us.”

In Klinghoffer’s company, the brothers tore through their new batch of songs. And what songs… “I’m usually the one who says our albums have to be ‘ten songs, no more’,” nods Jeff. “But we had all these great songs, and we wanted to let them all breathe. So the album had to be 18 songs.” But if the prospect of these unabashed Beatles-heads delivering an eponymous double-album with a sleeve of a single colour has you expecting a meandering, eclectic set like the Fabs’ ‘White Album’, Redd Kross is all-killer, no-filler, more akin to their Exile On Main Street, their Double Nickels On The Dime, their Zen Arcade: 58 minutes of solid-gold power-pop, driven by melody and dynamic, with a lyric- sheet that’ll reward all your perusing.

Redd Kross opens with lead single “Candy Coloured Catastrophe” and from there tears into the heaviest rock banger of the set, “Stunt Queen,” which Jeff says is “the closest we come to a ‘political song’. It’s about these total fame-whores in politics who’ll do anything to be on TV – people like Lindsay Graham, who doesn’t care how humiliated he gets, as long as he’s on TV. It’s like some weird kink.” Then there’s the “unbearable man” in “Terrible Band,” inspired by Jeff and Josh’s obsession with documentaries about cults, and the number of musicians they know who behave like cult-leaders. There’s “The Witches’ Stand,” a downbeat psychedelic power-ballad stringing together a narrative involving Brian Jones, and Jean Harlow, and De De Troit of early LA punks UXA, “who disappeared off the face of the earth, though I see her at the grocery sometimes,” grins Jeff. “Fame – and surviving it – is the joining thread of that song.”

The album boasts some absolutely killer couplets, like “Canción Enojada”‘s snarling “I revoke your pass / You’re such an ass,” or “She dumped the leader of Kiss / Because he was not fine”, from “Emmanuel Insane,” inspired in equal parts by the Rolling Thunder Tour documentary on Netflix, David Bowie’s glam-era and the later Emanuelle sequels. Prime Redd Kross, in other words. But there are deeper themes here, too – the cosmic “The Main Attraction” derives its power from the brothers’ dual vocals and Beatles-y harmonies, and its tracing the motivation for the ever-expanding universe’s kinks and twists to love. And sometimes they just boil everything down to a perfect pop song, as in “I’ll Take Your Word For It.” But perhaps the finest song on Redd Kross is the song that closes Redd Kross – that is, in no small part, the ballad of Redd Kross, or at least their early days. “Born Innocent” retells the early days of the group, the first thrill of punk-rock, their nascent explorations of that wide-world they’d later become synonymous with. “It’s like the Cliff Notes version of our formation,” laughs Jeff. “It was the first song we wrote for the album, and actually we wrote it for the documentary, Born Innocent.”

“We’d been doing the interviews for the movie, and for our memoir,” adds Steven. “We were in a reflective mood, perhaps.” But Redd Kross is not the sound of legends resting on their laurels – rather, it’s Redd Kross spreading their wings and grasping their true potential, after 45 years in the game. The best record in the Redd Kross discography – or should we say, their best record, until the next one. “We’re on a schedule,” nods Steven. “It’s our 45th anniversary, but we’re still defining who we are. We put our noses to the grindstone for this album, and we did it! And it feels like the beginning of something. It’s so exciting to us that there’s still more to discover. We’re publishing the memoir, the movie’s coming out, we’re releasing this new album – and getting the machine started up again makes me nervous, and that’s thrilling. Our third act is going to be badass.”