4 out of 5

Label: Gasatanka (original 7-inch)

Producer: Redd Kross?

Your level of digging this recording will probably depend on your appreciation of / love for the tracks covered.  Me?  I have no connection to this era, so I don’t care that they rewrite history to give it a snotty grunge sheen.  But if the originals are hallowed ground for you, you might cry foul: Redd Kross de-stupids Kiss, de-sneers Rolling Stones, de-girl-groups Shangri-Las, de-sloppys the Stooges, de-slicks Bowie, de-pops Boyce and Hart, and de-punks Redd Kross.  Mind you, for every core element they strip away, RK puts their own spin of stupid, sneer, or etc.

But this is a wildly changed band from two years prior with their debut – proven by the remake of their own track, Linda Blair.  “Teen Babes” more directly points toward the world of grunge the band would apparently create / influence, moreso than Neurotica, in my opinion, except that that was obviously original tracks.  Gone is the almost manic energy of the original Linda Blair, where guitars and drums couldn’t be contained behind Jeff’s warbly vocals, and instead we get a practiced frenzy.  It still sounds loose and fun, but the Redd Kross kids of 1982 could not have dreamed up the mini freakout tacked onto the end of Blair that appears here – that’s the work of people in control of their sound and aiming their energies, and not just spasming over the instruments.

The recording also sounds pretty excellent.  In going with a more straight-forward pop-rock sound for all of these songs, they’re cleaned up or balanced where each original artists genre would’ve required mixing it differently.  And by not setting out to prove anything – the covers aren’t drastically changed beyond sounding like they’re all played and sung by one band who likes to rock out (without facepaint or taking off their shirts) – RK makes this mini-album a highlight to their early career.  I have never liked a Kiss song in my life, but I totally dig Redd Kross’s version.