If you grew up in a post-Nirvana world, you might be excited about the forthcoming November Australian tour by two of the great American bands of the ‘90s, the Melvins and Redd Kross, both of who are still absolutely firing on all cylinders.
The Melvins, from Washington, are one of the heaviest bands you’re ever gonna hear. They formed years before the Seattle grunge boom but their proximity meant they hugely influenced it. Their original drummer Matt Lukin later turned up in the classic original line-up of the original grunge band Mudhoney, and Kurt Cobain was such a fan that at the peak of Nirvana’s success he was able to get the band signed to Atlantic and co-produce some of the tracks on their first album for the label (and fifth overall – they were prolific), Houdini.
LA’s Redd Kross also ended up on Atlantic and were also feted by Nirvana – Redd Kross, the Melvins and Nirvana all shared a manager at the time with ties to Atlantic – although they predated Nirvana and grunge by an even longer time than the Melvins. Redd Kross formed as kids in 1978 – bass player Steve McDonald was 11 and his brother, guitarist, singer, songwriter Jeff McDonald was 15. (It said on the cover of their first album that Steve “hopes that someday he will be compared to the likes of Danny Partridge".) They started off as a trashy punk band but by the mid-‘80s they were the ultimate in underground glam pop. By the time they signed to Atlantic the pop was at the fore; Jeff McDonald was a genius pop writer and the band mixed ‘60s bubble gum with Kiss, the Beatles, Bowie, the Carpenters, the Stooges and were on their way to becoming –seriously – one of the greatest hard rocking pop bands you’re even gonna hear.
Although Redd Kross are certainly a more friendly proposition than the Melvins, both bands have long been allied; indeed, these days, Redd Kross bass player Steve McDonald also plays in the Melvins, and the Melvins drummer Dale Grover also play in Redd Kross. Meaning that both bands have the same rhythm section.
Anyway, you can get tour details here, and you can check out a great video from each band below. And each band’s classic Atlantic albums are now on Spotify so check out Third Eye by Redd Kross and Houdini by the Melvins here too.
Redd Kross “Annie’s Gone”
Melvins “Honey Bucket”
-DL
