Legendary L.A. groovy punks Redd Kross are back for reals with a new album,Researching the Blues (Merge), and soldiering on with their insistence that punk is indeed groovy. They were never strictly “punk” according to the norms of the early-’80s California scene they grew up in; nor did they always sport the “Brady Bunch extras” look they cultivated later in that decade, when the founding brothers starred in the goofy cult classic Spirit of ’76 and went off about Charles Manson, Cher, shag carpeting, and whatnot. But brothers and founding members Jeff and Steve McDonald have consistently crafted oddly catchy tunes via an undying love for Cheap Trick and all loopy things L.A. And judging by their new record, they’re still as good as distilling those influences into songs as ever.
The band has had the same lineup for six-plus years, and when we caught lead singer/guitarist Jeff McDonald…
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