4 out of 5

Label: Houston Party

Produced by: Ze Malibu Kids

Several, several times have I gone back to Redd Kross thinking that now I will ‘hear’ them.  Often it’s due to some name-drop by a current musical obsession; most recently it was reading the revelation that they were considered to have kicked off that whole ‘grunge’ thing…   But while I was able to come around to the group’s pop prowess, overall, after their debut, I often felt like the McDonald brothers were either trying too hard to be cheeky or to not sound like they cared.  Occasionally they’d stumble onto that great tossed-off feeling that would produce some truly catchy and smart pop / rock songs, but that was rarely the case enough of the time to carry me through a whole album.

So here I am again, listening to Ze Malibu Kids – essentially a modified Redd Kross – and considering giving RK just one more go.  Several songs on here sound exactly like Redd Kross to me, such as ‘Outer Circle’ or ‘Standing in the Wrong Line,’ the former even having Brian Reitzell on drums… but then there’s that slight tweak, which makes ‘Sound It Out’ have exactly the laid back vibe the McDonald’s had been aiming for for years.  Perhaps its the addition of some practiced popstresses – Steve’s wife Anna Waronker and Go-Go / Jeff’s wife Charlotte Caffey – that’s reigned in the RK duo’s more scatter-shot tendencies.  Perhaps it was just the right time, right place.  Either way, ‘Sound’ is close to pop gold.  Humor still gets to peek out throughout the album and the surrounding bits, whether in the 80s-esque video for track ‘I Won’t Forget You,’ the odd-ball ‘What’s Wrong With Stephani?,’ crediting Coffey as Jeff’s 7-year old daughter Astrid (heck, maybe she did play the drums), or the pretty chuckle-worthy descriptions of each song’s solo in the liner notes (“understated but brilliant solo”), but the California slacker silliness has given way to, overall, more mature lyrics and a less whiny singing style – Steve (…Jeff?  I never know who sings) gets downright passionate on the penultimate ‘Waiting For Our Last Time.’

And I probably never want to hear the Cub-original version of ‘Your Bed,’ but the Malibu Kids version is one of the best pop songs ever, with a scorching, outta the blue solo.  …Which sounds as good as it does thanks to Jeff’s production, which helps to perfectly embellish all of the styles the group manages to effect on the disc – Waronker’s sweet pop on opener ‘Shelly Fabares’ and ‘Sleep Therapy,’ the throwback ‘I Won’t Forget You,’ and even some old-school RK punky charm on ‘Don’t Go.’

Redd Kross has always had some amazing pop chops, but their albums always left something to be desired to me.  We still get some tracks on ‘Sound It Out’ that might as well be RK tunes, but as buffered by so many other great tracks, twirled into gleeful goodness by Caffey’s / Astrid’s / drum-machine’s head-bobbing drumming or Anna’s always delightful vocals (or backup vocals), the disc never gets into a hole that you won’t be taken out of by the next song or the next song.

after-the-fact disclosure: I read about Caffey on drums here, but, like, in the video for ‘Your Bed,’ pretty sure that’s Caffey on the solo.  So, y’know, props to Astrid if the drumming is actually hers.  (No props to her otherwise, the fucking brat.)