Atlanta Soundtrack: New music videos by Kid Fears, EarthGang and more

Alexis Hauk

August 18, 2023

Kid Fears | ‘Say’

Playing in front of a sea of kudzu, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Rose Ewing serves up traces of The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan on this track from her band’s new album Undying Love, which dropped on July 28. In her life outside the musical group, Ewing works as a horticulturist and gardener, which is evident in the swaths of green being celebrated through song and performance.

On the band’s Instagram, Ewing said that “recording this song was a pivotal moment for us in developing the sound of the record. It was the first song we finished, and I remember feeling euphoric when adding the drone at the beginning and the fuzzy guitar in the verse. At that point, it felt like something clicked, and things started to fall into place for every song after that.” Be sure to also check out their gorgeous stop-motion video for “Lemon.” (Photo by Reilly Shaw)

EarthGang | ‘Bobby Boucher’

If you had “Ode to an early aughts Adam Sandler movie” by one of Atlanta’s most creative hip-hop duos on your 2023 bingo card, well — congratulations. For those youngsters not born before the turn of the millennium, Bobby Boucher was the protagonist of Sandler’s 1998 hit The Waterboy, which set a precedent for the comedian to enjoy megasuccess despite being utterly critically panned.

It also left the world permanently tattooed with the phrase “open up a can of whoop-ass.” So, you know: #Blessed.

Apparently, Sandler himself is already a fan of the group comprised of Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot, who formed EarthGang in high school. Sandler tweeted an ecstatic response to the visually fun tribute: “Yo EARTHGANG! Singing along with you! Love, Bobby B.”

Neon Christ | ‘It’s Mine’

If there are actual high-quality clips of your live performances on YouTube, were you even really a hardcore punk band of the 1980s? So goes the ancient philosophical question, the answer to which, if you’re Neon Christ, is a resounding “no.” Given the dearth of even a trace of the group’s revered shows around Atlanta — except some grainy footage of them opening for the Dead Kennedys and a much-later reunion gig at Star Bar in 2021 — we’d say that their bonafides are rock solid. They’re an outfit remembered mainly by word of mouth and kickass performances like this one (our Vintage Track of the Week), which is in many ways as it should be.

But here’s what we do know. Neon Christ came together in 1983. You had Randy DuTeau on vocals, William “Kip” DuVall on guitar, Jimmy Demer on drums and Danny Lankford on bass. In the summer of 1984, they released their 10-song debut. A year later, they were gaining traction and opening for national punk acts. And they added another guitarist, Shawn Devine. Unfortunately, things moved fast, and, by 1986, they were pretty much broken up. DuVall would wind up joining Alice in Chains on vocals and guitar in the early aughts, after which Neon Christ reunited as headliners for something called Ratlanta Punkfest 2 — which, come on, y’all, we really need to relaunch. Still friends and — from the look of things — still very much game to play together, we’d assume there will be more opportunities to celebrate their 40-year legacy around town. Here’s hoping.