REDD KROSS - Researching The Blues

For their first album in fifteen years, L.A.'s Redd Kross pick up where they left off: stomping out tough glitter-punk leavened by instantly memorable bubblegum melodies.

"The members of Redd Kross, of course, know that they’re a legacy band now; they’re well into middle age, after all. But that status hasn’t altered their sound one iota. They named the album—and its riotous first song—Resarching The Blues to make fun of the idea that every old-guy band has to go roots-rock, to tap into some hard-won wisdom. There’s no wisdom to be heard on the album, but there’s craft for days. Researching The Blues gets in and gets out, 10 songs in half an hour, no fat anywhere. They’ve got two speeds: Laser-precise Camaro-rock overdrive and sha-la-la jangle. And every song lands on one side of the divide or the other, more or less. But the amped-up rockers have moments of overwhelming melodic sweetness, and the starry-eyed jams never translate as ballads; they still have pogo tempos and slashing chorus guitars. This is power-pop where the power never, ever gets lost, and where fiery guitar solos are pure necessity." - Stereogum

"This isn’t your every-month, crappy reunion record. Yes, Redd Kross' latest release, Researching The Blues, is their first album in 15 years (and their first on Merge Records), and yes, the band has about three decades of history behind them. But after the super-lean album spins to a close, you’re left with the realization that Researching The Blues possesses something that fans could only dream about from a band that hasn’t released new material since 1997. " - Paste