Crying Nut

Thanks to the 2K11 SEOULSONIC project, many Korean bands have been made known in overseas countries, and K-pop creative agency DFSB Kollective has revealed that Korea’s top punk band Crying Nut has been invited to perform at Singapore’s Music Matters Live from May 26th to May 28th.

This Music Matters Live event marks the end of a digital entertainment conference held in partnership with HP Computers, and this 3 day event will feature 40 bands from 18 countries in Clarke Quay, Singapore.

Crying Nut has been chosen as one of the headlining acts for the opening of the official Music Matters Industry Showcase, which will be held at the Central Fountain Square on Thursday, May 26th at 1:30 PM. On Friday, May 17th, they will be performing at SE7EN 1 Inch at 7:00 PM, and on Saturday, May 28th, they will at Lunar at 9:00 PM.

Additionally, Crying Nut will be participating in a charity album which will be released worldwide. They will be covering Coldplay‘s “Fix You” for the album and other artists from the festival with be contributing as well. The proceeds from this album will be going to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan.

Meanwhile, to commemorate their 15th anniversary, Crying Nut has complied 15 of their best tracks for their 2K11 SEOULSONIC iMix which is exclusively available on iTunes worldwide. - AllKPop.com (5/19/2011)

Talent it seems, had found a bunch of people to possess.

Crying Nut – hailed as the ‘pioneers of Korea’s punk rock scene’. The quintet is one of Korean rock’s major success stories, having won over audiences in record amounts with their distinctive brand of punk rock. We had the privilege of catching their exhilarating, fist pumping, and crowd-jumping live gigs at HP’s Music Matters Live. Better yet, we managed to wangle the raucous, lively group down for a chat.

For those unfamiliar, let us introduce you to the people behind the unique sounds and rambunctious live shows of Crying Nut. Firstly, we have Park Yoon Sik, the lead vocal with a great rock star stage presence, Han Kyung Rok, the bassist, who kind of reminds us of our happy-go-lucky uncle who has had too much to drink, the bespectacled Lee Sang Myun and his twin Lee Sang Hyuk who play the guitar and drums respectively and Kim In Soo, resident accordion and keyboardist, whose face tends to be in a perpetual state of ‘I don’t give a rat’s a**’ even while energetically pulling the accordion.

Crying Nut is an animated and dynamic band; as a group that has been around for 18 years, what keeps them together is simply their life long friendship, their brotherhood, having schooled together and for a few, even going through national service for their country. They showed their rare, serious side when asked what Crying Nut means to them. They responded with profound answers such as ‘my life’, ‘my family’, even referencing Led Zeppelin and AC/DC’s famous contradictory song titles ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Highway to Hell’. However, they’re also known for being quirky, drawing laughter with answers like ‘the mafia’ and ‘my job’ thrown in during our little meet-up.

The group live up to their vivacious and funny reputations, when asked how they go about preparing for their live performances. Yoon Sik mentioned his personal ritual of chewing gum before each gig, and went on to say with mock indignance that the wily thing’s banned in Singapore [insert handcuffed action-followed by getting hit-and then some spontaneous butt-hitting with Kyung Rok who was beside him]. Sang Myun followed up with a comment on needing ginseng to get him going, drawing laughter from us as well as his band members. They even graciously hammed it up for our shameless request for a shout out to kourier, which you can catch in our video.

Let’s just end this by proclaiming that Crying Nut is loud, in a good way. Considered veterans of Korean punk rock, they belt out infectious tunes, raucous lyrics, and project this huge energy and spunk to their audiences to produce a carefree, zealous and sometimes melancholy body of music. But for Korean punk rock pioneers, they are surprisingly unpretentious and down-to-earth.

- Kourier (9/13/2011)

A few weeks back, we reported that Korean veteran punk rockers Crying Nut were invited to perform at Singapore’s Music Matters Live.

Well the deets are out, and it looks like Asian-American hip-hop R&B group Aziatix will be joining Crying Nut to represent Korea at the end of this month at the conference!

This will mark Aziatix’s first performance in Singapore since their debut. The schedule is TBA for now, but we’re assuming they’ll be performing songs off their debut EP, which was released earlier this week (and is still climbing the R&B/Soul Albums Chart on iTunes!). Singapore Aziaddicts are in for a treat!

Crying Nut, one of the headlining acts for Music Matters Live alongside Simple Plan and more, will hold three separate shows throughout the three-day conference:

On opening night, Crying Nut will get the party started as one of the headline acts for the official Music Matters Industry Showcase at Central Fountain Square (THU May 26th @ 10:30pm) and will be playing weekend gigs at SE7EN 1 Inch (FRI May 27th @ 7:00pm) and Lunar (SAT May 28th @ 9:00pm). [source]

The K-rock band will also participate in a meaningful recording of Coldplay’s “Fix You,” which will be released as a charity single to aid the disaster relief in Japan.

Watch Crying Nut and Aziatix’s latest MVs below: - MTV K (5/19/2011)

A few weeks back, we reported that Korean veteran punk rockers Crying Nut were invited to perform at Singapore’s Music Matters Live.

Well the deets are out, and it looks like Asian-American hip-hop R&B group Aziatix will be joining Crying Nut to represent Korea at the end of this month at the conference!

This will mark Aziatix’s first performance in Singapore since their debut. The schedule is TBA for now, but we’re assuming they’ll be performing songs off their debut EP, which was released earlier this week (and is still climbing the R&B/Soul Albums Chart on iTunes!). Singapore Aziaddicts are in for a treat!

Crying Nut, one of the headlining acts for Music Matters Live alongside Simple Plan and more, will hold three separate shows throughout the three-day conference:

On opening night, Crying Nut will get the party started as one of the headline acts for the official Music Matters Industry Showcase at Central Fountain Square (THU May 26th @ 10:30pm) and will be playing weekend gigs at SE7EN 1 Inch (FRI May 27th @ 7:00pm) and Lunar (SAT May 28th @ 9:00pm). [source]

The K-rock band will also participate in a meaningful recording of Coldplay’s “Fix You,” which will be released as a charity single to aid the disaster relief in Japan.

Watch Crying Nut and Aziatix’s latest MVs below: - MTV K (5/19/2011)

South Korea is best known for its manufactured pop acts. You know it, I know it, and your mom knows it. But that’s not to say that K-pop is the only Korean music shaking up the international airwaves.

K-rock bands, ranging from punk to electronica, continue to garner interest on an international scale. This year’s SXSW featured a record-breaking four Korean bands (Idiotape, Vidulgi Ooyoo, Galaxy Express, and Apollo18).

Photo Credit: Crying Nut/DFSB Kollective

Veteran punk rock band Crying Nut is no exception.

For those unfamiliar, Crying Nut is one of Korean rock’s biggest success stories. Their explosive 1998 debut single “Let’s Ride a Horse (Speed Up Losers)” became an instant phenomenon, selling over 100,000 records — something unimaginable for a rookie rock act. With six critically-acclaimed (not to mention bestselling) albums, these guys have been called the “pioneers of Korean punk rock.”

Most recently, they’ve been invited to perform at Music Matters Live 2011 later this month in Singapore. And to celebrate, they’ve upped a Crying Nut 2K11 Music Matters Live iMix, with a couple tracks from each of their albums, including their hit songs “Speed Up Losers,” “Magic Circus Clowns,” and “Oh, What a Shiny Night!”

Take a listen, and let us know what you think! - MTV K (5/3/2011)

“Punk’s beginning in Korea wasn’t long ago, maybe around 1994 when Drug opened in the club district next to Hongik University. Early on, Korean punk had the will, but often lacked the way. High-energy acts like Crying Nut...planted the seeds [and] drove the Drug record label onto TV, onto the charts, and into the mainstream.” - Theme Magazine (Spring 2005)

CHOSUN PUNK REVISITED

The original Chosun punkers have long lost their indie edge, but their rocking irreverence is as welcome as ever. After a long hiatus (courtesy of the South Korean army), the band regrouped last year and released their fifth album, The Cow of OK Pasture, earlier this year. There must be something about that military service because three and a half years after their slightly disappointing fourth album, Crying Nut is back in top form for The Cow of OK Pasture.

The album is everything you can expect from Crying Nut: loud, infectious rock tunes, rowdy lyrics, and manic energy. Their riotous grassroots folk punk - complete with accordion! - has grown a lot more polished and inventive with this album. The instruments and vocals all have their own places, and there are more snazzy arrangements and less of the chaotic noise of previous albums. If the boys have matured in implementation, they are thankfully still as immature and joyfully raucous as ever in presentation.

It is pretty hard to go wrong with this album. There are fun straightforward pop punk numbers, like "Bump" (Track 3) and "Bedwetter Generation" (Track 13). And if you've ever felt the overwhelming desire to chant "Luxembourg" - and really, who hasn't? - then there is always Luxembourg (Track 2). For slightly less riotous, Crying Nut-style folk, there is the relaxed accordion- and acoustic-guitar-driven "Bird" (Track 10), perhaps most suitable for lazy strumming on a beach, and "Myong-dong Calling" (Track 4), which is a far shot from London Calling, but still a decent mid-tempo reggae rock track with catchy guitar hooks. Where Crying Nut fabulously outdoes itself is when folk, rockabilly, polka, punk, and lunacy collide, as in My World (Track 11) and "Drink" (Track 5). Just for the record, I believe if a drunken circus cow drove his pick-up truck into an Irish pub and started an ad-hoc polka band, the result would sound something like "Drink".

It is easy to discount artists after they have stayed past their prime and, in Crying Nut's case, become suspiciously mainstream-friendly in the process. True, we will never again see the raw, anarchic Crying Nut of 1998, young, brilliant punk pioneers on the verge of breakthrough. But the 2006 Crying Nut has developed their signature musical style to a new level of circus magic. And there is always the accordion. - YesAsia.com (11/17/2006)

“[Crying Nut] The current torch-bearer for Korean punk rock. Single-handedly revived both Korean rock and the indie band scene out of the dead zone between 1996 and 2000. Excellent adaptation of the punk rock spirit to Korean atmosphere to create a carefree, passionate and sometimes melancholy body of music. AWESOME live performers, never studio. Best songs combine mindless screaming, utter frivolity and unexpected sentimentality, like this one.” - AAK! Music (2/10/2010)

“[Crying Nut] The current torch-bearer for Korean punk rock. Single-handedly revived both Korean rock and the indie band scene out of the dead zone between 1996 and 2000. Excellent adaptation of the punk rock spirit to Korean atmosphere to create a carefree, passionate and sometimes melancholy body of music. AWESOME live performers, never studio. Best songs combine mindless screaming, utter frivolity and unexpected sentimentality, like this one.” - AAK! Music (2/10/2010)

“Crying Nut brought Korean punk rock to the forefront at the Big Top Stage, with their fast-paced tunes and edgy lyrics. The group hopped around the stage throughout the 80-minute set, at one point even donning long mullet-style wigs and having fun with the crowd.” - Korea Times (7/27/2009)