K-rock review: Crying Nut - Flaming Nuts

Bought this in Daejeon because the cover art's hilarious:



They're called a punk band, but they like to party more than they like to damn the man. Flaming Nuts, their 7th LP, is jammed with big singalong choruses, hard-hitting drums, and songs that make you want to get up and move. They follow up the "serious" song of "Unknown Universe" with the Green Day bounce-punk of "Five Minute Wash."

Flaming Nuts reminds me most of Sum 41 and Dropkick Murphys. A good time record from a good time band.

I'll be buying more from them! They're probably even better live.

Listen here:

"레고 [Lego]"

"5분 세탁 [Five Minute Wash]

Rock on, guys.

Notes:

http://www.cryingnut.kr/
http://www.koreanindie.com/tag/crying-nut/
http://www.koreanindie.com/2013/06/24/crying-nut-flaming-nuts/ The review
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crying_Nut

Thoughts from spin #1...

1. Pirate Song - Dropkick Murphys with Korean vocals. Yeah!
2. The "Wild Thing" riff takes a ride down to the Caribbean and they jam it up.
3. Fun vocals, loud guitars. 90s-style.
4. Minor key bass, swirling guitars.
5. Green Day/Sum 41, palm mutes and rhymes. "Five Minute Wash" = Cool title.
6. Party thrash about peanuts?!
7. An upbeat acoustic number about new shoes? Folk-esque--with accordion!
8. Slap-happy Dropkick Murphys action.
9. 90s pop-punk Christmas singalong.
10. Mariachi with distortion and Spanish vocals--or is it Korean that sounds Spanish? Either way, 'tis a happy little number.

Catch up on Kpop?

Maybe.

I haven't had much motivation to listen to it lately. Even my favorites 2NE1 haven't graced the stereo in months. Until this morning, that is. Listening to their disappointing new single "Falling in Love" brought to mind that no, they weren't always this obvious, this American, this nasal, and this club-baiting. CL's earlier single "The Baddest Female," should have been warning enough, but actually, the last track on their (excellent) second EP, "Don't Stop The Music" was the harbinger of change. On the EP, it was a not-so-good final track, so it got skipped more often than not because it sounded too much like an obvious club song.

2NE1 still stands as the best of the Kpop groups, and while it's foolish to expect them to remain the same, these changes don't bode well for them. Their rock and roll-style hard driving attitude of yore has shifted to cloying "ghetto fabulous" platitudes.* Whereas it used to be "We're badass because we do what we want," now it's "We're badass because we're rich and we're in the club." Well, great. They must've been clamoring for those fake 80s drum beats and shots of them looking rich and bored.

"Falling in Love"

CL - "나쁜 기집애" / "The Baddest Female"

"Don't Stop The Music"

"내가 제일 잘 나가" / "I am the Best"

Hard driving. A mission statement.

*R noted this point.

Shin Joong-hyun and the Yup Juns - Volume 1

I mentioned that I'd write more about Shin Joong-hyun and his band the Yup Jeons. Shin's been called the "Godfather of Korean rock" and him and the group lay down some quality grooves together here.

As with most things these days, it started with a Groove article about an upcoming Korean history book. It mentioned Shin Joong-hyun and his influence on Korean rock music. The article triggered the thought that for all the Kpop I buy and enjoy, rock and roll will always appeal more. Reading about him combined the two big passions of music, and so I did a bit of research on what records were out there. I bought the Volume 1 album without hearing a note of it. A description of the song "Beautiful Woman" and how the song got banned seemed like enough to go on.

I tracked down three albums from him and this group: Volume 1, Volume 2, and Instrumental Best. Of the trio, Volume 1's the best, but all 3 have their merits.

The Volume 1 LP's full of funky rocking grooves. From the opening "Beautiful Woman" to the Hendrix-style "Sunrise," it is 45 minutes of classic rock bliss. Actually, classic rock wouldn't accurately describe all the heavy funk bass lines and soulful singing. Think Isaac Hayes' album Hot Buttered Soul and you'll get close. As good as Shin's guitar work is, Lee Nam-i's bass and Kwan Young-nam's drumming shine as well. They make a good rhythm section here. "I Don't Know" rocks like any number of blaxploitation soundtrack songs and "Lady" rides a tense crescendo into a driving chorus a couple of times. 

The version I'm describing's actually a recent American reissue. It features expanded, all-English liner notes, and an LP-style jacket. The notes help explain the story of the record and what Shin was thinking when he recorded it. Much as I like the translations of the lyrics, the Korean lyrics would have been good to have, even if American listeners may not be able to read them. They'd certainly help with learning Korean.

Volume 1 didn't take off like the band expected, so the group ended up issuing a rerecorded version of it instead. It had more fuzz guitar overdubs and a different, flatter mix than the original issue The cover’s also different. All of the songs I've posted here have come from version two because version one can't be found on YouTube. The rerecorded version’s available for much cheaper in Korea than the original version, but the original has a fuller sound and better packaging. It also appeals to my record collector sensibilities, because I’m a sucker for the words reissue, limited release, and original mix. 

"미인" (Me-in "Beautiful Woman")

"나는 몰라" (Na neun mol la/"I Don't Know")

"긴긴 밤" ("Gin gin bam/"Long Long Night")

"설레임" (Seolleim/"Anticipation")

Link to a site about Shin Joong-hyun and the Yup Jeons