Neurotica

Album Review

It seems hard to imagine that a band inspired as much by breakfast cereal and Saturday morning cartoons as by rock & roll could have created the album that spawned an entire movement — grunge. When Neurotica was released in 1987, it inspired hordes of punk/hardcore kids to put down the safety pins and pick up the guitar. The perfect blend of Beatles/Kiss-style pop/rock and Butthole Surfers art rock, the album blends the raw punk spirit of the band that included "Quit School" stickers in their second album, 1984's Teen Babes From Monsanto, with the pure thrift store rock & roll of Kiss, the Rolling Stones, and the Stooges. Jon Auer from the Posies remixed some of these tracks (including the obvious super hit "Peach Kelli Pop") for a potential reissue on Seattle's Sub Pop in the mid-to late- '90s, but, for whatever reason, this idea was quickly shelved. Largely ignored upon its release in 1987 (Big Time folded shortly after and the band were unable to record under their own name for three years), Neurotica did manage to find its way into some very important young people's bedrooms. Redd Kross had unwittingly created the rough, lo-fi, melodic, rock & roll template that bands like Mudhoney and Nirvana would become very successful exploring over the next few years. [This reissue includes "Pink Piece of Peace" and "It's the Little Things" as bonus tracks.]