Alice In Chains frontman William DuVall is digging into his punk rock past to reissue 14 songs he recorded with his hardcore punk band Neon Christ in 1984.
DuVall wrote the songs which make up Neon Christ’s upcoming 1984 album when he was 16: the first 10 tracks on the album emerged on the Atlanta, Georgia quartet’s self-titled, seven inch vinyl EP Neon Christ, with the remaining four tracks being recorded that same year with Foghat producer (and future 24 actor) Nick Jameson.
The band - who featured vocalist Randy DuTeau, DuVall on guitar, bassist Danny Lankford and drummer Jimmy Demer - played alongside the likes of Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks and C.O.C. before DuVall moved to California to join BL’AST!, who released three records on Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn’s influential SST label.
The 1984 album is being released on June 12 on Southern Lord/DVL after longtime fan Greg Anderson of Southern Lord contacted the band about reissuing a deluxe edition of that year’s studio sessions.
I had planned to do a proper Neon Christ reissue through my label, DVL Recordings, this year,” says William DuVall. “It must have been the right time because, as soon as I’d made up my mind to do it, Greg from Southern Lord reached out about doing exactly the same thing. I suggested we join forces. I admire what the Southern Lord label has achieved. Suffice it to say, all of us in Neon Christ are extremely honoured that there’s any interest at all in what we did so many years ago.”
“I hadn’t listened to that music in a studio atmosphere since back when it was originally recorded,” DuVall adds. “I was sixteen writing those songs. Neon Christ is quintessential youth music from a tumultuous time, both in our own lives and in the world at large. It documents the birth of a new music and culture that would influence everything that came afterward. We loved being a part of that emerging scene. We’re even more proud now of the contributions we and so many of our friends made. The energy and emotions we captured remain timeless.”
Digital copies of 1984 will also be available exclusively via Bandcamp.
Neon Christ 1984 track listing:
1. Parental Suppression
2. The Draft Song
3. Winding
4. Bad Influence
5. Neon Christ
6. We Mean Business
7. Yoof
8. It's Mine
9. Doom
10. After
11. The Knife That Cuts So Deep
12. Ashes To Ashes
13. Blind Patriot
14. The Death They'll Give You
