We are mere weeks away from the 35th anniversary edition of Neurotica, the 1987 power pop and alternative rock opus by Redd Kross! Both CD and 2-LP formats include the original album, remastered by JJ Golden (Pearl Jam, Thee Oh Sees), as well as 12 previously unreleased demos from the era (rediscovered recently in the archives of the band’s original A&R guy, Geoffrey Weiss). The double vinyl edition—the album on translucent turquoise, the demos on translucent orange—arrives in a slick gatefold jacket.

Last month, Redd Kross put Neurotica in its newly remastered form on digital service providers. Today, for the very first time ever, the band shares a demo version of the title track from the reissue.

Redd Kross’ technicolor mixture of punk rock and capital-P “Pop” would first be explored on 1984’s Teen Babes From Monsanto EP (where The Stooges, KISS, and Bewitched actress Elizabeth Montgomery would all get their flowers via some pretty righteous cover tunes), but the Redd Kross sound would gel into something miraculous with Neurotica. Brothers Steve and Jeff McDonald enlisted a grand crew of musicians that included guitarist Robert Hecker, keyboardist Paul Roessler (Screamers, Nervous Gender), and Roy McDonald (The Muffs) on drums. And in the producer’s chair guiding the young bucks? Tommy Erdelyi, aka Tommy Ramone, one of the originators of punk rock melody. Unshakeable hooks on tracks like “Peach Kelli Pop” and title track “Neurotica” would inspire rave reviews at the time of the album’s original release in 1987. The L.A. Times’ Craig Lee wrote: “In an age when too many bands base their music either on calculated career moves or heavy-handed pretensions, Redd Kross is as breezy as a kiss in the wind, a band born to rock in a world that forgot how.” Decades later, Pitchfork would revisit the album with a glowing write-up: “Pop culture nostalgia was to Redd Kross what LSD was to the Butthole Surfers; their music was delivered with just as furious a passion, but their love for Beatles-esque pop harmony shone through as much as any punk sensibility, and their Kinks influences, entirely free of irony, served as lyrical substance over their powerful, hi-octane hooks.” Plain and simple, Neurotica is just a fantastic piece of art. Unsurprising that something of this caliber would hatch from the minds of two brothers who changed the face of punk rock before they were old enough to drive a car, and the face of alternative rock before they were old enough to rent one.

We’ve gotta lotta Neurotica reissues for pre-order on turquoise and tangerine Peak Vinyl and CD in the Merge store, including a discounted superbundle of both formats plus an exclusive new t-shirt!