Atlanta Soundtrack: New music from Lowertown, Kenny Mason; vintage Coolies

Lowertown | “Bucktooth”

BFFs Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg, who met on a school trip as teens and went on to form Lowertown, are making merry at the carnival ahead of the October 21 release of their debut album, I Love to Lie. Well, if by “making merry,” you mean “grappling with the pathos of our times,” as evinced by these searing lyrics: “I can’t handle any more guns / Give me some fun that isn’t trouble / Give me some words that don’t mean something double / Give me a job that doesn’t wear me down to the bone / I come home at night and don’t want to be alone.”

Osby told Stereogum that she modeled the writing after the tongue-in-cheek style of Johnny Cash’s “Cocaine Blues.” But the turned-down vocals and slow, trance-like guitar strumming might remind you of the Meat Puppets’ “Plateau,” popularized by Nirvana during the set on MTV’s Unplugged. Since the 1990s are having a moment right now (and since the early-20-somethings of Lowertown were barely alive through much of that decade), it’s nice that some things remain eternal. Like existential crises illuminated in the neon glow of a tilt-a-whirl.

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Kenny Mason featuring DavidTheTragic | “Dip!”

With strategically placed sound effects and simple but compelling beats, West Atlanta’s Edwin Kenneth Green Jr., aka Kenny Mason, concocts his ode to opting out. This atmospheric video directed by JMP evokes the grittier 1970s “grindhouse” style of filmmaking (popularized in more recent times by auteurs like Robert Rodriguez). Stay tuned for fun surprises, like when an eye-rolling Mason leans against a wall at a gathering and rapidly disappears like cereal into a bowl of milk.

While Mason hasn’t indicated when we can expect another full-length project like his debut album, Hoodrat, which came out in 2020, he has been busy with EPs like Pup Pack, where this single lives, and collaborations with other artists. Notably, he was recently featured on “Dance Now,” from fellow-Atlantan J.I.D.’s late August release, The Forever Story.

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The Coolies | “Talkin’ bout Doug”

In just a handful of years, 1980s Atlanta alt-rock group The Coolies (not to be confused with the late Kim Shattuck’s group by the same name) managed to roast Simon & Garfunkel and righteously skewer Paul Anka. They also released this 1988 “rock opera,” considered by some to be a genre masterpiece, modeled after The Who’s Tommy.

The satirical saga follows a skinhead named — as you may have guessed — Doug, who murders a short-order cook, steals the victim’s book of recipes to become a bestselling overnight sensation and then plummets into drug and booze-fueled squalor. The 13 genre-spanning songs are intensely dark, funny and deranged. Other titles included “Crack Pipe (Burnin’ My Hand)” and “Ain’t Gonna Eat No More.”

The best part is, by spoofing the likes of The Who, John Lennon, Gary Glitter, Led Zeppelin and others, the Coolies show off their legitimate musical chops. Frankly, we’re still waiting for this to be brought to life someday. Obviously, it has John Waters’ name all over it, but if anyone else wants to step up, we won’t complain.

As a fun aside: The Coolies’ frontman, Clay Harper, co-founded Atlanta staple eateries Fellini’s Pizza and La Fonda Latina. But hopefully, there was never a real-life Doug to be found. At any rate, we encourage this way to enjoy fist-pumping your way through the sheer poetry of our Vintage Track of the Week: “One pair of Doc Martens, laced up to the top, three beers in the mornin’, after that he would not stop.”