Brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald of power-pop-punks Redd Kross are the first to admit that they are pretty much the opposite of prolific. Their new album Beyond the Door, which was released on the day this interview took place, is their first since Researching the Blues in 2012. Before that, Show World came out in 1997.

These guys like to take their time. But shit, it’s worth it. This new record is an absolute rip-roarer that is in turns fuzzy and raw, lush and epic. The opening “The Party” has a musical theater quality to it, like it could be in Hair or something. Then the title track is pure power-pop. Jeff says the record’s release feels like his birthday, while Steve is excited to tour the album properly — the first time they’ve done that in 25 years.

“If you think of it like, if you do eight albums divided by 40, then we’ve actually only had five years in between each album, as an average,” says Steve. “I tell myself that to feel better about the fact that there are other practical concerns that get in the way.”

Ah yes, practical concerns. Steve McDonald is also a member of the Melvins, a band that is out on tour a lot (Melvins drummer Dale Crover plays with Redd Kross also). The brothers also served as Sparks’ backing band at one point. All good stuff, but all getting in the way of Redd Kross.

“For me, it’s a double edged sword because it inspires me to see other creative people that I work with follow through and make their records, and go out on tour,” says Steve. “It’s inspiring, but then it also takes up a lot of my time. That’s one of the practical concerns that keeps Redd Kross from being more prolific.”

“But we also only kind of only make records when we feel like it,” adds Jeff. “When we feel it’s time to make a record, Steve, who is more busy on the road with his other acts, will make the time and we’ll do it.”

Steve then says that the band needs to take their time because they have a limited number of songs within them. Like, ummm, eggs in a female. Yup, you read that right.

“I like this thing that we’ve talking about lately, this concept that maybe songs are sort of like eggs for women, and you’re born with your entire lifetime allotment of them, and that we’ve been very slow to use our allotment,” he says. “Therefore it’ll take longer for us to reach our menopausal stage as songwriters. If you follow us down that path.”

The brothers are clearly using their allotment cleverly; the hooks on Beyond the Door are relentless. Arguably not since 1993’s Phaseshifter, when the band got a taste of overseas success thanks to the “The Lady in the Front Row” single and later their cover of “Yesterday Once More” for the If I Were a Carpenter tribute album, have they appeared to embrace pop melody so wholeheartedly. Jeff, though, says that’s what they always try to do.

“That’s what’s fun about writing songs — you have to sing them eventually, so it’s nice to have a good tune to sing,” he says. “For us, we’re both very much into melodic music. Not that I don’t enjoy noise too, I like everything. But it’s kind of more fun to sing songs.” 

“For me, a song comes from a melody first, in general,” Steven adds. “The lyrics for me get cobbled together after the melody. The melody leads the whole thing.”

Through all of September, October and November, Redd Kross will be out on the road with the Melvins, a package that makes sense considering the sharing of members between the two.

“Well, I play in the Melvins now and Dale [Crover] plays in Redd Kross, so it’s pretty much a no-brainer,” says Steve. “Basically, if you bring two more people on a Melvins tour nowadays, suddenly you’ve got two bands. So it’s very practical. Also, we share a kinship and similar point of view. Similar graduating class — we’ve been through a lot of the same things. It feels very natural and easy.”

Of course, that means Steve McDonald and Crover will be performing two sets each night for three months. Both are in their 50s, so do they have concerns? Yes.

“Dale slipped a disc in his back earlier this year, so the Melvins had to cancel some dates around June,” Steve says. “But he’s busy doing lots of physiotherapy — it doesn’t look like there’s any surgery ahead. We’re going to start doing rehearsals before we go out on tour where we do both bands back to back, just to get a sense of how it is for him. But for me, luckily I don’t have any back problems to speak of right now so it’s the ultimate form of cardio vascular workout. I don’t workout otherwise. Jeff always says that he needs applause to exercise, and that very definitely works for me too.”

The Redd Kross/Melvins tour will hit these parts four times — twice at the start of the tour and twice at the end. Will they mix the sets up a bit?

“Redd Kross always tends to mix it up a bit,” says Steve. “The Melvins finds something that works and sticks with it. The one thing I see Melvins do over the course of the tour is they might start jamming with the support band for their last song. I don’t know if Redd Kross and Melvins are going to do that, although it makes sense because it’s sort of an extended family thing. It would be a hell of band.”

The guys are also keen to point out that, while the Melvins are officially the headliners, Redd Kross will be playing an hour-long set every night. 

“The Melvins are very gracious and have deep respect for us, so they want to make sure that our fans get their fill,” Steve says. “The other thing is we made a lot of effort to work on songs from the new album. If you’re a fan of the new album, you’ll hopefully be very satisfied.”

“We’re excited to see everybody,” adds Jeff.

The feeling’s mutual, guys. Just don’t leave it so long next time.

Redd Kross and the Melvins perform at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, September 4 at the Observatory, then at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 5 at the Troubadour. Then they’re back at 8 p.m. on Thursday, November 7 at Alex’s Bar, and at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, November 8 at The Echo.

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