Quintessential Los Angeles band Redd Kross exist at the sweet spot where punk, metal, and bubblegum meet, and the group's driving forces, Jeff and Steven McDonald, have stayed true to that equation since they began in the late '70s. There was more punk at the start, like on Born Innocent, the 1981 album they made before they were finished with high school, but the band's love of cheesy '70s pop culture and sugar-smacked hooks led them in a different, more accessible direction, including flirtations with pop-metal, slick power pop, and tuneful post-grunge. In a stunning comeback of sorts after projects and the occasional reunion, Redd Kross returned for new studio albums in the 2010s that captured the spirit of their early work, with a (slightly) more mature lyrical approach.