Redd Kross Talks About Playing an 8th Grade House Party with Black Flag in This Clip from Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story

Redd Kross rocks. That’s undeniable. One of the many ’80s punk bands that found success on college radio and laid the groundwork for the alternative rock explosion of the 1990s, Kross was one of the relative few who stuck together long enough to benefit from that music’s huge mainstream popularity. Well, kind of: they did put out a few major label albums in the ’90s, and 1993’s Phaseshifter got some play on commercial alt-rock radio, but they never had the surprise late career hit that fellow ’80s stalwarts like the Meat Puppets and the Butthole Surfers did. Redd Kross also didn’t sound markedly different in the ’90s than they did in the ’80s, though, unlike those two bands; they had firmly hit upon their signature garage-fueled,  punk-adjacent power pop sound by the time of 1987’s Neurotica album, and have kept cranking out should-be rock hits in the decades since. And now, 44 years after their debut EP, Redd Kross are the stars of a new documentary about their unique history and underexamined importance to underground rock.

Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story is a new full-length doc from director Andrew Reich, whose long career writing for TV earned him an Emmy and an executive producer credit on Friends. It’s a 90 minute dive into a cult band that (per the press release) embodies “Southern California, rock and roll, and what it means to be an artist,” and it’s full of interviews and testimonials with other artists who know, played with, and were inspired by Redd Kross. That list includes members of Pearl Jam, Dinosaur Jr., the Go-Go’s, Black Flag, Sonic Youth (no doubt Thurston Moore getting his mandatory annual rock doc appearance in for ’24), the Bangles, the Linda Lindas, Minutemen… the list goes on.

Redd Kross’s music has taken brothers Jeff and Steve MacDonald farther than they ever could’ve imagined when they first starting jamming in the living room of their friend John Stielow’s childhood home in 1979. The MacDonald brothers were just kids, literally: Jeff was 14 and Steve was 11. Alongside founding guitarist Greg Hetson, who left after not too long to form the Circle Jerks with Black Flag’s singer Keith Morris, and drummer Stielow, they quickly started playing shows around the South Bay as part of Southern California’s burgeoning hardcore scene. One of their earliest shows is legendary within the L.A. and South Bay punk scenes; Steve was still a preteen when Redd Kross played an 8th grade graduation party at a friend’s house in ’79. Also on the bill? Hardcore flagship Black Flag, when original singer Morris was still in the band.

In this clip from Born Innocent, the MacDonald brothers and former Black Flag members Morris, Dez Cadena, and Ron Reyes tell the story of that infamous show. If you’re a Redd Kross fan, or have any interest in the history of punk or alternative rock, you should check it out. You can learn about Born Innocent at the movie’s official site, and catch it on the road throughout America between Dec. 5 and Feb. 18. You can find those dates (some of which include a live Q&A with the band or Steve MacDonald) beneath the video below.

Born Innocent: The Story of Redd Kross Screening Dates:

2024

Thu. Dec. 5 – Los Angeles, CA @ TCL Chinese Theatre. Q&A with the band.
Fri. Dec. 6 – Phoenix, AZ @ Hello Lincoln. Q&A with Steve MacDonald.
Fri. Dec. 6 to Sun. Dec. 8 – Cincinnati, OH @ Esquire Theatre
Tue. Dec. 10 – North Hollywood, CA @ Laemmle NoHo 7. Q&A with the band.
Tue. Dec. 10 – Dallas, TX @ The Texas Theatre
Wed. Dec. 11 – Santa Monica, CA @ Laemmle Monica Film Center. Q&A with the band.
Thu. Dec. 19 – Detroit, MI @ Third Man Records
Sun. Dec. 22 – Jersey City, NJ @ WFMU Monty Hall

2025

Fri. Jan. 3 to Sun. Jan 5 – Columbus, OH @ Gateway Film Center
Sat. Jan. 4 and Wed. Jan. 8 – Cary, NC @ The Cary Theater
Sat. Jan. 4 to Sun. Jan. 5 and Wed. Jan. 8 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Harris Theater
Sun. Jan. 13 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Woodward Theater
Wed. Jan. 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
Tues. Jan. 29 – Arlington, MA @ Regent Theatre
Sat. Feb. 2 – Toronto, ON, CAN @ Hot Docs
Sat. Feb. 16 – Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Sun. Feb. 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Grammy Museum