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‘Born Innocent’ Review: The Story of Redd Kross, the Most Underrated Band of Their Generation, Is Told in Fascinating Detail in a New Documentary


The strange story of Redd Kross, a major influence on everyone from Nirvana to Guns N' Roses, is told in 'Born Innocent,' premiering in L.A. May 23.

It seems ridiculous even now to say that their unabashed affection for those garish fashions, the Partridge Family, Mackenzie Phillips and other pop-culture icons of their childhood was visionary (relatively speaking, anyway), but as the remarkable new documentary “Born Innocent” proves, they were even further ahead of their time than longtime fans had thought. Through dozens of interviews and candid conversation with Jeff and Steve (together and separately), not to mention their parents, their wives (Go-Gos co-founder Charlotte Caffey and That Dog singer Anna Waronker, respectively), their children, countless bandmates (including their Spinal Tap-like procession of drummers) managers and fellow musicians, the group’s remarkable story is rendered in vivid and focused detail, which moves at a steady clip and impressively avoids many possible rabbit holes. Sonic Youth, patron saints of the indie scene with no small pop-culture fetish of their own, worshipped them, as their cofounder Thurston Moore says in the doc; members of Soundgarden and other Seattle bands speak reverentially of their shows in the area.

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