Boss Hog, Red Aunts Celebrate 25 Years of In the Red Record at Rare Comeback Show

In the Red Records may have never spawned a massive crossover success like Sub Pop (with Nirvana), Epitaph (the Offspring), or Sympathy for the Record Industry (the White Stripes). But the L.A. indie label, founded by Larry Hardy in 1991, has stayed mostly out of the red, so to speak, for the past 25 years — by releasing more than 300 rabidly received cult titles of experimental, attitudinal, three-chord trash-rock, noise-rock, and punk, including catalog standouts from the Black Lips, Jay Reatard, Thee Oh Sees, the Dirtbombs, and Vivian Girls.

This past weekend, the label celebrated a quarter-century of quirk at Los Angeles’s Echoplex/Echo, with a three-day fest featuring the Gories, Cheater Slicks, Kid Congo Powers, and what seemed like at least half a dozen side-projects helmed by In the Red’s top-selling artist, SoCal psych-rock wunderkind Ty Segall. But the festival’s second night was the most momentous, as it boasted a garageful of awesome garage-rockin’ women, all playing L.A. for the first time in far too many years.

Boss Hog was perhaps the night’s top draw, and with good reason: This was the first Los Angeles show in 15 years by deliciously down ‘n’ dirty sleaze-rock combo, led by raven-haired, sandpaper-throated badass Cristina Martinez and featuring her ramshackle guitar-god husband, Jon Spencer (of Blues Explosion/Pussy Galore fame). Boss Hog’s output has been frustratingly sporadic since they formed 27 years ago — they’ve only issued three full-length albums, and this month’s Brood Star EP is their first release since 2000. But Martinez seemed to be making up for lost time, hitting the Echo stage like a beast unleashed, pouncing, prancing, and prowling. Really, her intensity would have almost seemed scary, if not for the fact that she was grinning broadly for pretty much the entire set. (She even got right up in my face once, when I dared to glance down at my phone. Cristina, if you’re reading this, I wasn’t texting, Snapchatting, or checking my Facebook — I was typing positive notes for this here rave review!) The beaming Martinez was clearly ecstatic to be back onstage for the first time since 2010, and like much of the audience, she could scarcely contain her excitement — especially when playing off Spencer, who matched her every snarl, scream, and squeal with raw, raucous riffage and Elvis howls.

Speaking of which, Martinez and Spencer, who have been married for as long as In the Red has existed, completely reestablished their status as rock ‘n’ roll’s coolest couple, succeeding where many of their ‘90s peers (Thurston and Kim, Gavin and Gwen, Jack and Meg) have sadly failed. Not only did the two exhibit adorably moony-eyed chemistry during their sizzling “I Dig You” duet (is there any line in indie rock more romantic than “I dig your barbecued lips”?), but when a cocktail spilled onstage and Martinez feared she might slip, Spencer cleaned up the mess by rolling around on the wet stage floor, literally mopping the booze puddle with the shirt on his back. “If that ain’t love, I don’t know what is,” Martinez gushed. The Spencer-Martinezes may be in their fifties now, but as the kids like to say, they are #goals.

Also gracing the In the Red stage were brash, bratty Long Beach punk-rockers Red Aunts, playing their first show, anywhere, in 18 years. (At a record-release party for their greatest-hits double-album two years ago, they attended but didn’t perform.) “OMG! They didn’t have ‘OMG’ last time we played. We didn’t have emojis — or the Internet. OMG!” gasped guitarist/vocalist Kerry Davis, as she surveyed the packed house. “No slam dancing, now — there’s a lot of old people here!” However, audience members of all ages ignored Davis’s sarcastic warning during the Aunts’ short, sloppy, sweaty eight-song set. The band claimed that this show was a one-off, and unlike Boss Hog — who will issue the much-awaited Brood X album later this year — Red Aunts apparently aren’t planning to record/release new music any time soon. But hopefully the delighted reaction they garnered at the Echo will inspire them to wait a little less than 18 years before their next gig.

Speaking of awesome garage-rock girls, representing the new generation — as the frontwoman of noisemongers the Side Eyes — was Astrid McDonald, the wild-eyed, 19-year-old daughter of Go-Go’s guitarist Charlotte Caffey and Redd Kross’s Jeff McDonald. (Fun fact: In the ‘90s, Caffey played in a short-lived band called Astrid’s Mother.) While Astrid didn’t exactly possess her parents’ sweet powerpop sensibilities, she proved she shares her dad’s talent for syncopated hair-flipping, his penchant for striped stovepipe trousers, and his total onstage fearlessness. Perhaps we’ll be seeing her at In the Red’s 50th anniversary in 2041.

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