Born Innocent makes the case for Redd Kross as the seminal West Coast band of the last half century. Formed in 1978 by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald, and still actively playing and recording today, Redd Kross are the ultimate rock and roll lifers. They have influenced independent music in ways that beg to be acknowledged. From inventing Beach Punk to influencing the Grunge and Hair Metal movements, Redd Kross have maintained the highest level of musical integrity, originality and quality for over forty years. They are the underappreciated link between countless threads of Los Angeles rock.
The band that connects Black Flag to The Partridge Family, The Runaways to The Cowsills Seeds, The Go-Go’s to The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Born Innocent will introduce a wider audience to two of the coolest people alive. The McDonald Brothers embody Southern California, rock and roll, and what it means to be an artist.
Telling the story of Jeff and Steve McDonald is a way of telling the story of Los Angeles from the late 70’s onwards. As the band was beginning in their garage, their neighborhood was being razed all around them to make way for one of the freeways that accompanied Los Angeles’s expanding population. That was just the first of the transformations they lived through. They have seen many versions of Los Angeles come and go, and they have incredible stories to tell from each one, with their Zelig-like ability to always be at the cutting edge of where the action was.
Unlike other famous, feuding brother teams like Ray and Dave Davies of The Kinks, or Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Jeff and Steve have kept their collaboration going for four decades. That doesn’t mean it’s all been smooth sailing. Early on, Jeff saw a selling point in having his pre teen brother as bass player in the band. But his success at breaking into the burgeoning punk scene inadvertently led to Steve being abducted at age 12 by a 24 year old woman he was sexually involved with. The interviews with Jeff and Steve in Born Innocent have them examine their past in a way they haven’t previously. Jeff has always been the creative visionary, pulling Steve along wherever that vision has led. Steve, the younger brother, has had to be the responsible one, keeping the band on course through countless lineup changes. The film tracks how the band has managed and made use of those tensions.