Moving on, we’ve now reached post seventeen introducing the bands that made it through the first round of auditions for KBS band survival show Top Band 2. Like yesterday the full panel have shared their opinions on these bands, in addition to myself making it Ranya of K-Underground Sweden, Lightinthemind of Korean rock is real, Dahee of Dahee’s Plastic Castle and Xtian aka drowningn00b. Feel free to share Your opinion on the bands in the comments!
RuRuRu
Indie pop band RuRuRu formed in 2010, a name inspired by how people can sing ‘lulululu’ to get in a better mood. They have yet to release anything, but strive to compose captivating light and simple melodies. Prior to RuRuRu bassist Hwang Soo Jung was a member of Joa Band.
RuRuRu – “Blueberry Muffin Recipe”
Anna: I’m so happy to find a band like RuRuRu among the contestants! Korea has so many bands of this kind and that really should be highlighted more often. Their audition song is so sweet and perfectly to my liking, though I must confess I found a few YouTube videos with songs that didn’t hold quite the same appeal to me. Nevertheless I think RuRuRu may be able to bring a breath of fresh air amidst all the rock centered acts on Top Band and hope we’ll get to see much more of them.
Ranya: Look at that cute little forest elf of a frontwoman they have! They are so delightful and sweet, they have this adorable charisma that just…bunny ears! The keyboardist is wearing bunny ears! And the song is just so cute and happy, I’m sure it’ll even melt the darkest of emo hearts, seriously.
Lightinthemind: At first I wanted to say that my heart, that had a strong bond with gothic music some time ago, can’t be melted with this. But after listening to several songs I found myself touched with that pure charisma of the band members and that pinky joyful sound which I find perfect for spring mood. Finally I found something that is not hard to sing at noraebang^^ Ah, about associations. If not elf, but adding pinky tail she reminds me of a unicorn from some old cartoon.
Dahee: They’re cute. It’s like they leapt straight out of an anime. I swear that bass guitar is bigger than her, and I can’t get over the use of bunny ears and the fluffy pink tail. If I were in a band, I would definitely wear a fluffy pink tail. That being said, I found a few of their songs to be a tad annoying, and I don’t think they’ll get that far in this competition. But they should charm a few people with their happy rainbow cuteness alone.
Xtian: Cute stuff! I do wonder, though, where this fits within the show. I haven’t seen anything like rururu so far from the bands, so they have a niche for themselves. How that will do with the rest of the competition will be interesting.
Chiva Sound
Hard rock band Chiva Sound formed in 2009. Having previously thought of the band as more of a hobby, the members are now giving it a serious go. So far no official releases from Chiva Sound, but the audition song is their own.
Chiva Sound – “토요일 밤”
Ranya: Initially I didn’t really think much of them when the song started, thought they had a bit of a Red Hot Chili Peppers thing going on, but by the middle of the song I found myself dancing along. This song is very fun and uplifting, although a little messy by the end, it adds to the energy they bring live. The front man seems to have a lot of fun on stage too!
Lightinthemind: I feel depressed. Why not any release? I’ve seen this band’s live performances floating around the internet but wasn’t giving them much attention, but now I feel sorrowful about not doing that. I just need to understand whether they are for record or for live or both. Ah, that is funny when a band has a sort of own sign. For Chiva Sound it is jumping in the beginning of the song :) It is better seen here on the big scene while performing a song which is going out of the mentioned ‘hard rock’ and jumps more into rock’n’roll which also gives me hope to see at least one worthy appearance.
Dahee: They’re fun and energetic and seem to really enjoy performing, which I always appreciate. I like what they’re doing, and can definitely see myself dancing along to this. Listening to other songs of theirs, I do think they’re a little messy, but their energy makes up for it.
Anna: Listening through random songs on YouTube I find their music perfectly agreeable. Nothing I’m super excited about, but it works.
Xtian: Oh my gawd! The frontman is COMPLETELY out of place! I love that. Rock to your own drum, man! But is that synth in the background? Are those horns? What century is this? It’s funky, it rocks, and I’m entranced, oddly enough. CHIVASOUND has me hypnotized. Loving this song.
Achtung
Acoustic rock band Achtung formed already in 2002, but it was not until 2008 that they released their first album. When they finally did it was a double and in February the next year they were up for Hello Rookie. Since then Achtung have released another album and playing plenty of shows in Hongdae.
Achtung – “Be The Man”
Anna: I feel like I’ve been giving them an earnest chance in the past: buying their first album, listening to it several times, trying to get into them. They had a bit of a following at the time or I probably wouldn’t have bothered trying to figure out what it was that I’d missed and there are the occasional bits of this song in particular that I do enjoy, but in the end they’re just not for me.
Lightinthemind: Ehr, for a second it felt like a school band performance. Don’t like the voice, can’t understand what they are performing. Next.
Dahee: Is it just me, or does the frontman kind of resemble comedian Lee Yoon Seok? I was so distracted by the resemblance that I had to watch the audition video twice. I actually like his voice, and I feel like they have moments of being pretty good. But overall…I don’t know. Why do I keep getting reminded of mayonnaise while listening to them? Like if their music took on a substantial form, it would be mayonnaise. Very ordinary. Am I crazy? Okay, don’t answer that.
Xtian: First time I realized that I’m sitting back while watching an audition clip. They’re not boring, but their style is very coffeehouse, with vocals that aren’t forced and smooth acoustic guitar playing. Its warming, and I’m smitten! Can’t wait for more ^_^
cheezstereo
Going for something like ‘group sound’, cheezstereo formed in 2006 and played their first festival the year after. In 2008 they released their first single on boonga Boonga Record. A full length album followed the next year, but since there has only been singles. The audition song comes from a digital single released in February this year, but since they’ve released a digital single more.
cheezstereo – “오늘밤”
Anna: As soon as I heard “Oh Yeah!” first time it was love. It was through a 1 minute sample from Hyang Music, but I played it over and over again until my copy of the single finally arrived. I’ve been waiting for a similar song since but cheezstereo have yet to offer an earworm quite like it. What they instead have been offering are plenty of other nice tunes with that aimable detached delivery. I suspect they won’t last long on the show, but I’m definitely looking forward to whatever little we’ll get to see.
Ranya: “Oh Yeah!” was also one of the songs played very heavily on my mp3 last year, and I really really like this band. I’m very weak for this sort of twee-ish sound and think they’re so endearing, I even found the song “Together” completely catchy when I heard it came out, sadly I do agree that I don’t think they’ll make it all the way on the show. So very sad.
Lightinthemind: I was listening to “오늘밤” more and overall find the band good in any terms. They are doing that sort of electro-pop which (though on the edge) is not going into the ‘cheezy’ side and stay light and entertaining.
Dahee: Oh, I really like them. I dig this kind of sound. “Oh Yeah!” is definitely awesome, although the audition song isn’t as good. I love their amusing sense of detachment. So very hipster of them. I hope they’ll last, but sadly, I also agree that they probably won’t make it. On a side note, I wonder if there is any kind of meaning whatsoever behind their name…
Xtian: Aaah! I love cheezstereo! So excited to see them! I swear their latest single, “Fashion People“, was released to promote their place in the show. But this clip is great. The bass is groovy and their signature electro sound underneath the rock is awesome, as usual. Cute job on the video editing. And ditto on “Oh Yeah!”. A must listen. This live performance of the song is fun to watch, considering how much the band is enjoying themselves performing the song.