Music Review: Creative Live Magazine Launch Night

Club Nevermind, May 5, 2012

Words and photos by Daniel Luzio

Nevermind has once again brought together local bands, some of whom have released EPs through Nevermind’s own label, and others who regularly turn up for gigs and festivals, making this night a bit of a Nevermind All-star night. The event is in celebration of Nevermind’s Creative Live Magazine, and with each band introducing themselves to a camera complete with a clapper board, it certainly looks as if Club Nevermind is expanding.

What is different about tonight is that a large portion of the audience area has been cordoned off with police “danger” tape. With this also cutting off some of the stage, it forces many of tonight’s performers into the audience area, resulting in some of them performing with their backs to the audience. It’s a strange setup, but the bands tonight are experienced and talented enough to overcome such obstacles.

이승준 (Lee Seung-jun) from Dirty Rockon

Moving away from his main band, “street punkers” Dirty Rockon, Lee Seung-jun goes for a gentler, singer-songwriter angle. Singing softly, he opts for the quiet-loud dynamic intensifying the emotions. The quiet moments are calm, woeful, plucked, with strumming bringing more emphasis to the songs. Singing louder than his usual soft purr puts a strain on his voice, which suits the fragile nature of his songs. During one particularly animated, loud moment, singing “everything is going to be all right” with his eyes closed and his face screwed up, his wail suggests that he is convincing himself more than anyone else. Not that he needs to, as he has proved himself a very versatile songwriter across his two very different bands.

Wheezy May

At first appearing to be a whimsical band, this four-piece is centred around the female vocalist who, when she allows herself, really has a strong voice reminiscent of the power-divas of the 1980s such as Bonnie Tyler. Even without the tobacco and booze tinge to her voice, she still has the drama intact. Unlike the current trend of pop highlighted in all the vote-off karaoke shows, she avoids the warbling of pop-gospel — those singers who feel they have to hit as many notes in the register as they are able in a single breath. Wheezy May’s vocalist instead goes for a purer sound, hitting a note at the full force of her lungs and sustaining it. Not only is this refreshing in our Simon Cowell-created musical world, it really showscases her voice, which is as strong and pure as a diamond, and just as clear.

The other band members take on a semi-anthemic quality, but they have to, as they will never be the stars of this particular band, and are bright enough to go for a form of music that will allow the vocalist to hit her range at its strongest point, bringing out the masses of potential she has. The anonymity of the band is confirmed with the guitarist performing not only with his back to the audience, but with his hoodie pulled up, obscuring his face. This is a band who realize their strength, and whilst putting in the quality, are not going to do anything to subtract from their largest selling point.

달토끼 (Daltoggi) and guests 희나리 (Heuinari)

It’s funny how they grow up so quickly, isn’t it? The last time I saw Daltoggi, they were a fresh, pasty-faced young band still in high school, peddling out good quality but not entirely original indie. Now they have returned as a fresh, pasty-faced young band with a fuller, harder sound that any mother would let her sons stay up past their bedtime to perform. They bring energy and enthusiasm to their songs, with the control of experienced songwriters. There is pent-up tension within each song that they release slowly, and each with its own flavor. They create a range, from more angst-driven songs to quite jaunty songs that suddenly take a dive into the dark recesses of the unconscious where our fears lie. All this still allows enough space for a seasoning of funk to find its way into the odd song here and there.

It’s only after the first set that the reason for cordoning off such a large area becomes clear, as traditional gukak group Heuinari join Daltoggi with traditional drums and clothing. With 10 performers, the Nevermind stage is too small to accommodate all these people with their large instruments, so it’s no wonder they needed to expand. And what they produce is truly wonderful. This isn’t just indie music that has a traditional Korean rhythm. Nor is it typical fusion in which modern songs are dealt with using traditional instruments. Daltoggi’s vision is too big for that.

What they produce is best expressed through the second song, 한오백년 (Longevity), as the female singer leads the Korean flutist through a sorrowful melody that slowly leads into the indie band taking control. They flick through a focus on the traditional styles and the indie style, as well as bringing the two together in a nice blend of the old and the new. This is not just putting together two styles of music, this is carefully weaving them together as if they should never have been separated by time, not just contrasting, but comparing in wonderfully balanced song arrangements. Other songs bring more from the contemporary world into the music. Use of delay effects brings a shoegaze atmosphere that floats beautifully over the traditional drumming, and they even manage to add some slap-bass that still emphasizes the traditional songs.

This performance was not only a pleasant surprise but a wonderful highlight, and one of the best performances I have ever seen. It’s not only that the musicians’ vision and ambition have grown so big, it’s that they have been able to stand up to it and prove themselves more than worthy. This is still only the beginning of their career with just one EP to their name. Who knows where they will go next – and they are high school students!

팡팡밴드난반댈세 (Pangpangbandnanbandaelse)

Next up are a band that have blown me away in the past. They have a more aggressive sound, but one full of joy and passion. The singer bounces around the stage, crouching down to yell into the mic. The guitarist cranes back to reach his guitar up in worship to the Gods of Rock, whilst singing along to himself, in a wonderful display of enjoyment of his own music that I have never seen before. The keyboardist forgets that this is an instrument supported on a stand, and swings around the keyboard and stand as if it was designed to be held in his hands. When he’s not doing this, he’s poised over the keyboard, one leg in front of the other, channeling his energy through the machine. Tonight they have only three songs, which is difficult for any band to get up to full performing strength, but they have also been upstaged, and they know this. They certainly don’t shortchange the audience, but a tiny bit of their swagger has been knocked out of them, and they don’t attempt to try to take the night away from Daltoggi.