Neon Christ was an American punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band from Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, formed in 1983. Its core members were Randy DuTeau (vocals), William DuVall (guitar), Danny Lankford (bass guitar), and Jimmy Demer (drums). One of their songs "Ashes to Ashes" was included as the third track on P.E.A.C.E./War

P.E.A.C.E./War

P.E.A.C.E./War is a compilation double album first released in 1984 by R Radical Records, the label run by MDC's Dave Dictor, in association with the San Francisco Bay Area punk fanzine Maximum RocknRoll...

, a 1984 compilation

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 double album

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 featuring 55 hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 from around the world. As of 2011, the band have said they will be reuniting to record a new album featuring material that they had originally begun back in 1985.

Formation, rise and break-up (1983-1986)

Neon Christ played their first gig at the Metroplex Atlanta on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1983 according to their MySpace

MySpace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 page. In March 1984, they began recording their self-titled debut album, which was released three months later as a 7” EP through Social Crisis Records. Upon completion of this album, Neon Christ would go on touring throughout the East Coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

, playing in several different locations. On Labor Day in 1984, they recorded four more songs, one of which, “Ashes to Ashes”, would appear on P.E.A.C.E./War

P.E.A.C.E./War

P.E.A.C.E./War is a compilation double album first released in 1984 by R Radical Records, the label run by MDC's Dave Dictor, in association with the San Francisco Bay Area punk fanzine Maximum RocknRoll...

. They continued touring throughout the Atlanta area, playing alongside other notable acts such as Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982. For almost the majority of its existence, the band has consisted of guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean , drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist and rhythm...

 and Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....

. For a brief spell in 1985, they added second guitarist Shawn Devine. They were also occasionally joined onstage by a roadie named Randy Gue, who worked with DuVall again on the short-lived project The Final Offering. Later that year they began recording another album that ultimately never materialized. (However, the band have since said they will begin recording a new album in spring of 2011 that will contain the first proper studio recordings of their 1985-86 material.) In January 1986, they went back to being a quartet and played their final show in February before going separate ways.

Post-Neon Christ (1986-2008)

With the exception of William DuVall, most members of Neon Christ have largely pursued other endeavors outside of music, although Jimmy Demer and Danny Lankford have respectively played guitar and bass in another band called Accidents. In 1990, Demer put out a double 7” EP through F-King Records, featuring their four Labor Day songs.

In 2007, Randy DuTeau published a detailed article highlighting the achievements of his former bandmate William DuVall, who by then was the new lead singer of Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...

, after Neon Christ broke up. DuVall thanked all of his former Neon Christ bandmates within the liner notes of Alice in Chains' 2009 album Black Gives Way to Blue

Black Gives Way to Blue

Black Gives Way to Blue is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released in September 2009. The first Alice in Chains album in nearly fourteen years, Black Gives Way to Blue is their first release with new vocalist/guitarist William DuVall, who took over from the late...

.

Reunion and future plans (2008-present)

Neon Christ reunited for a one-time show on February 2, 2008 in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Since then, the band have gotten together with director Edgar Johnson to create a documentary film called All Alone Together: Neon Christ and Atlanta Hardcore.

William DuVall said of the project:
To help raise funds for this project, the band announced a pledge drive in February 2011, offering backers all kinds of merchandise, including the aforementioned new album featuring their unfinished material from 1985, depending on the amount they were willing to pledge. This pledge drive has surpassed its goal of raising $6,500 and the project will be funded on April 16. Edgar Johnson credited DuVall and his fellow Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...

 bandmates for boosting this project by raising awareness on their website.

Discography

Title	Release	Label
Neon Christ 7” Neon Christ 7” Neon Christ 7", also known as Parental Suppression, is the first album released by the American punk rock band Neon Christ. This album is very rare as only 1,000 copies are said to have been pressed.-Track listing:# Parental Suppression# Draft Song...	1984 1984 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...	Social Crisis Records
Neon Christ 2x7" Neon Christ 2x7" Neon Christ 2x7" is a compilation album released by the American punk rock band Neon Christ; it was put out by drummer Jimmy Demer. This album had twice as many copies pressed as its predecessor Neon Christ 7” but is also very rare...	1990 1990 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...	F-King Records

Videography

Release Date	Title	Label
2012	All Alone Together: Neon Christ and Atlanta Hardcore	Social Crisis Films