Researching the Blues

15 years since their last album, Jeff and Steve McDonald have not only reconvened their adored hardcore punk-turned-power pop combo Redd Kross, they've reunited the best of the group's many lineups. Guitarist Robert Hecker and drummer Roy McDonald completed the band on their career high points, 1987's Neurotica and 1990's Third Eye, records that combined big '70s-glam-rock hooks and '80s post-punk snark with a sincere love of vintage psychedelia and proto-punk garage. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics are dialed back on Researching the Blues, but the hooks and harmonies are in generous supply. From the dreamy bliss of "Dracula's Daughter" to the vintage Cheap Trick edge of first single "Stay Away From Downtown" to the New Pornographers-like melodic complexity of "One of the Good Ones," this is a top-to-bottom power pop delight.