As it begins, Jeff McDonald and Steven McDonald are driving down the 110 South, and discussing whether anyone calls that highway the Harbor Freeway anymore, and I immediately love them. Having come to Los Angeles from the east coast, the names of highways are still fodder for conversation with my friends (I call it Route 1, not Pacific Coast Highway, and certainly not PCH). The movie takes us to Hawthorne, where Jeff and Steven grew up, and where its sign proclaims it the "City of Good Neighbors." It is also the home of the Beach Boys, as is mentioned in the movie. (And speaking of Bill Bartell, it isn't long before we see one of the brothers sporting a White Flag T-shirt.) The neighborhood where they grew up is gone, taken over by the 105 freeway. There are great black and white photos documenting the area after the people had vacated it but before the highway was built, along with footage from Suburbia, of boarded up and vandalized homes. And then we are taken to present-day Hawthorne, which is quite a bit different.
One thing I love about this movie is how the brothers themselves take us on the tour through their lives, and do so with a certain joy. The band is our guide here. Early on, they take us to the house where they played a girl's eighth grade graduation party, a gig that also included Black Flag. Imagine being fourteen years old and showing up at your classmate's party and finding Redd Kross and Black Flag playing in the living room. Insane. And that's just the beginning of this crazy story. Soon we learn that David Bowie was in the audience at one of the first shows, when they were still Red Cross. One of the craziest elements of the story is that Steve went missing for three months when he was still a child, having run away with an older woman. The brothers' parents are interviewed, and it is still difficult for them to talk about that time, which is totally understandable. It is fascinating, and is really the only dark segment of the story. Mostly this is a fun documentary, and those interviewed seem genuinely excited to be talking about this band. There is a lot of love here, for the music and the musicians. In addition to extensive and multiple interviews with Jeff and Steven, the film includes interviews with other musicians who, at one time or another were in Redd Kross, including Greg Hetson, John Stielow, Tracy Lea, Janet Housden, Dave Peterson, Robert Hecker, Roy McDonald, Gere Fenelly, Brian Reitzel, and Dale Crover. There are also interviews with many other musicians of the scene, including Ron Reyes, Dez Cadena and Keith Morris of Black Flag, Jennifer Finch of L7, Don Bolles of The Germs, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Vicki Peterson of The Bangles, and Ronnie Barnett of The Muffs.
There is, as you'd expect, a lot of great music in this film. But I think even if you're not into this music (though that would surprise me), you can enjoy the movie, for the story is so fascinating, and the characters so likeable. And for those of us who grew up at a certain time, the pop culture influences (such as The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family) take us back to our own youth. And that Rock Against Drugs clip brings back some memories too. Strange times. Vicki Peterson talks about it in her interview. Jeff and Steven were also in some movies, including The Spirit Of '76, which was released in 1990. "So Spirit of '76 should be called 'Spirit of Redd Kross,'" Allison Anders, director of Gas Food Lodging, says in that section of the film. "They weren't just in the movie, but it was really about them in a way." I need to revisit The Spirit of '76 at some point. I remember enjoying it. This documentary takes us through the band's breakup and reunion to the present, and leaves us feeling pretty damn good.
Disc 1 Special Features
The first disc contains a commentary track by Jeff McDonald, Steven McDonald and Andrew Reich. We learn more about the various locations of the film, like Jeff and Charlotte's house, where they are looking at records. And one interview was filmed at a friend's house that burned down in the Altadena fire.
The first disc also contains the movie's trailer.
Disc 2 Bonus Material
The second disc contains several hours of bonus material. There is an expanded sequence on the beginning of the band, with more from the interviews with Jeff and Steven. That sequence is approximately eight minutes. Next is a sequence on Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and Lovedoll Superstars, movies directed by David Markey that feature performances by Jeff and Steven. The first movie was inspired by Redd Kross, and apparently by an episode of The Brady Bunch. Jeff and Steve talk about the characters they play in each film. This sequence also includes footage of them playing the theme song. Allison Anders says she loves Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. This feature is approximately fifteen minutes. Those two films, by the way, also just got a special Blu-ray release.
There is also an extended sequence of Jeff and Steven going through Jeff's record closet, talking about various records and a few other music-related items. They mention Bill Bartell here. One of the records they show is by Tater Totz, "Live Hate At Beatlefest," and they talk about that performance, which you can see in The Secret Lives Of Bill Bartell. I seriously want that record! Does anyone know where I can get a copy? I love this sequence, and would love to look through those records with them. I laughed when they pulled out the copy of the New Monkees record, which I recognized immediately. I wish I had bought it, but at the time it had made me angry, because I'm a huge Monkees fan. This sequence is eighteen minutes. That's followed by an interview with Kim Shattuck. The interview was conducted by Steve Appleford in 2013, and it is all about Redd Kross. She toured with them in Europe, sharing a bus. She says of Jeff, "I think he has the best voice in rock and roll." She also talks about pranks they would do, and about the movies, The Spirit Of '76 and Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. This interview is thirty-one minutes.
The special features include footage of Jeff and Steven hanging out, playing Red Kross songs, both on acoustic guitars. It's a fun, loose session, and it includes a particularly enjoyable rendition of "Neurotica." Also cool is their acoustic version of "Stay Away From Downtown." This footage totals approximately forty-one minutes. It's followed by an expanded sequence on the Neurotica album and the time around the making of that album. That's eight and a half minutes. In "The Naz Pad," Jeff and Steven talk about the room where they rehearsed, along with other bands. There is an interview with Dave Nazworthy. This section also gets into the pranks that Kim Shattuck had talked about during her interview. And it functions as an introduction to the next special feature, which is Redd Kross rehearsal footage from 1989. It's great to have this footage, and the band is rocking. There is a fantastic bass lead early on. The footage also includes a bit of banter between songs. I love their cover of "Who Loves The Sun," with that excellent drumming at the end. They also cover "One After 909." Probably the most surprising cover is "Different Drum," written by Michael Nesmith and recorded by The Stone Poneys. And they do a good job with it. The rehearsal footage is approximately fifty-three minutes.
There is a sequence about the band's Polliwog Park concert of July 22, 1979, when they were still known as The Tourists. Jeff and Steven take us to the park, talking about the gig, which was after that party gig, and also with Black Flag. This sequence includes black and white photos of the show, and is approximately five minutes. That's followed by an expanded sequence on the Posh Boy era, about how Steven's paper route paid for the recording of the band's first demo. It includes an interview with Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields of Posh Boy Records, and also more about David Bowie being at the band's first nightclub performance. This is approximately ten and a half minutes. There is also a sequence on the name change from Red Cross to Redd Kross, with Steve mentioning a gig that featured both Red Cross and the Salvation Army, and how he believes both organizations were informed about the bands. Steven was contacted at his high school about it, and apparently the Red Cross organization suggested the K though not the extra D. Then Jeff tells the story separately, and wonders if the call was a prank, saying it was just the sort of thing he might have done himself.
Redd Kross' appearance on Media Blitz in 1984 is included. The band performs "Deuce." I could never stand Kiss, but I'm enjoying this band's rendition. They also do "Ballad Of A Love Doll" and "Blow You A Kiss In The Wind," and then there is an interview with the band, which is kind of adorable. This footage is twelve and a half minutes. That's followed by Roman Coppola's original 16 mm "1976" music video footage, and then footage of Ron Reyes and Dez Cadena talking about the Happy Tampons and relating some fun anecdotes from that time. The special features also include an expanded sequence on the Santa Monica Pier concert from November 27, 1982, including some super 8 footage by David Markey, and an interview with David Markey and Jennifer Schwartz. The bit about the Suicidal Tendencies showing up is crazy.
A Q&A with Andrew Reich, Jeff McDonald and Steven McDonald is included. It took place in Santa Monica on December 11, 2024, and was moderated by Lyndsey Parker. Andrew talks about his background writing situation comedies, mentioning that this is his first documentary. "I don't know if I'll ever make another one," he says. They do get into that period when Steven was missing, and also about the band's self-titled album, which had just come out. Andrew tells the crowd that the Blu-ray release will have a lot of extra footage, which clearly turned out to be the case. The Q&A is thirty minutes. It's followed by an expanded sequence on Spirit of '76. Jeff and Steven are interviewed about the movie, as are their parents and Roman Coppola and Lucas Reiner. There is also a sequence when Steven breaks down every Redd Kross record in chronological order, giving information about the time of each release, providing a vivid sense of how the sessions went and what each record means to him. This sequence is approximately twenty-eight minutes. And then there is an expanded sequence on the Teen Babes From Monsanto record specifically, where the Kiss influence is discussed. Lots of musicians are interviewed in this sequence, including Kim Gordon. This one is twelve and a half minute. Then folks like Jay Ferguson, Ronnie Barnett and Kim Warnick talk about their love for the Third Eye album.
The special features also include footage from the Tourists reunion concert on November 22, 2015, which is great. They pack a lot of songs into thirteen minutes, including "Clorox Girls" and "Annette's Got The Hits." Astrid McDonald joins them on vocals for "Don't Talk To Me." That's followed by footage from the rehearsal for that show, held the day before. That footage includes shots of them going over the set list. In addition, this two-disc set includes a liner notes insert, written by Andrew Reich about how he got into Redd Kross, and two postcards. Yeah, this is a pretty incredible two-disc set.
This two-disc Blu-ray edition of Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story was released on April 3, 2026 through MVD Visual.
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