Part II – Guckkasten
In 2003, a group
of Hongdae students formed a band called The C.O.M.
Then they went
to military service…
But THEN, when
they came back, they changed their bass players (seriously, bass players are
like batteries; they may “drive the band”, but they’re ultimately disposable).
They also changed their name to the much more identifiable “Guckkasten” (German
for “Chinese Kaleidoscope”, but written in Hangeul as 국카스텐). The
name was chosen, not out of respect for the old bass player, but rather to “show
off a never-ending, fire-work like image of the passion of the young and the
mirage of life”.
The combination
of roots in the OLD Hongdae, the name choice, and the explanation of the name
choice meant one thing: The added aspects created a giant mass of pretention
that could only pay off as a modern day, Korean Smashing Pumpkins or Oasis.
Yup, that’s
about what happened.
Described as
psychedelic rock, they strove to be indie, but sold out when they realized that
indie paid less than the local Lotteria. It was a compromise, being a smaller
label that allowed them to keep their own style.
They eventually
earned their stripes, winning an award for the song “Mirror” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8IOC-ihboI
– with the main vocalist Ha Hyun-woo showing to be a true frontman, with solid
guitar work and powerful vocals.
They only
recently became known and admired in the mainstream for their work on the TV program
“I am a Singer” where non-k-pop stars cover Korean music from throughout the
ages. The most popular was the cover of k-pop girl group Sistar’s “Alone” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Hn6SoDk4Y
– The way it was always meant to be played. (external only)
More samples:
Manicure - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH9Z0oUsAWU
For links to all the articles in the series so far, check out the list in the original post: http://sunnysmartshoppingkorea.blogspot.kr/2013/06/more-than-just-k-pop.html
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