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South Korean music is usually considered synonymous with K-pop, but that is not the case. There is a whole world of niche artists beyond K-pop who do not get the attention they deserve because of their lack of visibility in mainstream music.
Korean rock bands belong to one such niche group that usually gets overlooked by music lovers, especially those whose interest in South Korean music does not go beyond K-pop. One may have heard of K-pop bands such as N.Flying, The Rose, and Day6, but there are more gems below the tip of the iceberg that music fans may be excited to learn about.
In Beyond Mainstream K-pop, we introduce our readers to South Korean entertainment that surpass the boundaries of the idol universe. Today, we are exploring five underrated K-bands that music explorers would definitely love.
4 South Korean rock bands every K-pop lover should know about
1) Cherry Filter
Cherry Filter is a four-member rock band that formed in 1997 under the agency Music Farm. They are one of the oldest and most popular rock bands in South Korea.
The group comprises three male members, Woojin, the leader and the guitarist, Yaenhead, who is a bassist, and Sonstar, the Drummer and rapper, along with a female member, Youjeen, who is the lead vocalist.
The group, well-known for their unique punk-rock sounds, rose to fame because of their song Romantic Cat. In 2003, the band received the Best Rock Performance award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards for their song Flying Duck.
2) SE SO NEON
SE SO NEON is an indie-rock band that debuted in 2016 under the label Strawberry Sound. The group consists of two male members, U-Su, who is the drummer, and Hyunjin, who is the bassist, along with one female member, Soyoon, who is the vocalist and guitarist of the band.
Soyoon chose this name for the band when she came across the name on the cover of a now-defunct children's magazine and thought it fit the vibe they were going for.
She is not only the frontman of the group but is also the only original member of the band. The other two members replaced Fancy Moon and Gangto in 2019, who left the band to enlist in the military in 2018.
The band released various EPs such as Summer Plumage in 2017 and Nonadaptation in 2020. They even won awards for Rookie of the Year and Best Rock Song at the Korean Music Awards.
3) BUZZ
BUZZ is a five-member rock-ballad boy band that debuted under Santa Music in 2003. They went on a long hiatus in 2007 when four out of the five members went to serve in the military but were promptly reunited in 2014.
The group comprises Ye-jun, the leader and drummer, Woo-hyun and Seung-hee, the guitarists, Jun-ki the bassist, and Kyung-hoon the vocalist.
The group is known for their emotional ballads, especially their song Coward, that blew away South Korean music lovers on its release in 2005. They went on to produce hits like My Darling and You Don’t Know Men in 2006 which shot them to immense popularity.
4) NELL
Out of all the bands mentioned, NELL is by far the most popular rock group in the South Korean music scene at the moment. Named after the movie Nell, they are an alternative-rock band that debuted in 2001. They are presently signed under the label Space Bohemian.
They are a four-member group comprising Jae-kyung the guitarist, Jae-won the drummer, Jung-hoon the bassist, keyboardist and backing vocalist, and Jong-wan the leader, vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist.
The group is well-known for their trance-like psychedelic and melancholic sound and have produced hit albums such as Healing Process, one of the most critically acclaimed albums in South Korea. They were even nominated for the Artist of the Year Daesang at the Korean Music Awards in 2006.
Their song Time Spent Walking Through Memories has been covered innumerable times by K-pop idols such as Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon and NCT’s Doyoung. The group has deeply shaped South Korea’s rock music scene, adopting a niche style and making it mainstream. They have even collaborated with BTS leader RM on his song everythingoes.
The South Korean music industry has a lot of gems working on different genres beyond the well-known world of K-pop. This space hopes to provide readers with exactly all they need in order to discover new artists.
Beyond Mainstream K-pop is a weekly series. Stay tuned for more.
