Beyond the Door is an album inspired by the band’s “total commitment to
having the best f*cking time we can have while we’re all still here”
(what they like to call “the Party”). It’s a rock and roll record and a
celebration of everything brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald love, from
cultures both high and low. Musically, it’s guitars, bass, and drums
topped with a generous portion of sweet vocal melodies often delivered
with an ambiguous edge.
Jeff and Steven started making music
together in southern California as Red Cross during the first wave of
Los Angeles punk rock, famously cutting their teeth opening for Black
Flag at a middle school graduation party. 2012’s Researching the Blues,
Redd Kross’ Merge debut and first new record in over a decade, was met
with critical acclaim and popular demand for reissues of their back
catalog gems Teen Babes from Monsanto and Hot Issue.
Beyond the
Door marks Redd Kross’ most collaborative record to date. Steven
describes this evolution: “Jeff is still very much the driving force
behind the compositions, but with more help from me than ever. Jeff and I
haven’t shared this much of the writing and singing since Born Innocent
in 1981.” Guitarist Jason Shapiro and drummer Dale Crover (Melvins,
OFF!) are longtime members of the Redd Kross live band, but this album
marks the pair’s recorded debut with the group. Mixed in Los Angeles by
Steven McDonald, Beyond the Door includes notable guest appearances from
Anna Waronker (That Dog), Geré Fennelly, Buzz Osborne (Melvins), and
Josh Klinghoffer.
On the surface, the album title is a playful
reference to an Italian horror film the McDonald brothers watched as
children, a loose rip-off of both The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby that
stars Juliet Mills of ’70s television program Nanny and the Professor.
But like all things Redd Kross, it would be a sad injustice to stop
digging there. No one knows what lies Beyond the Door… but we’re all in
front of it.
Inspirations as varied as K-pop, glitter gangs,
embarrassed tweens, long-term relationships, a mysterious character
named Fantástico Roberto, and much more all contributed to Beyond the
Door, an album that lures the listener into Redd Kross’ secret club full
of riddles and inside jokes, with the ultimate reward of the perfect
pop moment!
El Club is located at 4114 Vernor in Detroit.
