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If you thought Korean music was just limited to the K-pop phenomenon of showy stage performances, hyped dance beats, and perfectly synced choreography, you’d be wrong. Earlier this week, we got up close to the Korean indie quartet Hyukoh at their sold-out New York show at Irving Plaza.
Since their 2014 debut, Hyukoh has released two EPs – 20 and 22, both named after their shared age at the time they created the albums (all four band members were born in '93). They also released their first full studio album in April of this year, fittingly titled 23.
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Hyukoh’s NYC show on Monday night (Sep. 11) was third on their eight-stop North American tour. Just earlier that day, they announced that they would be adding three European stops, further solidifying their first world tour since their sudden rise to fame with their hit song “Comes and Goes” in 2015.
Doors opened at 7pm, and around 8:15pm, the members of Hyukoh entered the stage to a roaring full house – bass player Lim Dong-gun, guitarist Lim Hyun-jae, Lee In-woo on drums, and frontman and vocalist Oh Hyuk – all donning ridiculously cool, big suits reminiscent of David Byrne. The band has become quite notable for their offbeat fashion, with Oh stating in past interviews that visual aesthetics play a large role in his identity as an artist.
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With just a quick greeting from Oh, the band immediately opened the show with upbeat favorites “Tokyo Inn,” “Comes and Goes,” and “Leather Jacket.” Once you get to know their work, you’ll realize that they don’t just make one genre of music. Their catalog stands out through their experiments of mixing different eras of rock, R&B, and soul with an acoustic flair. This, combined with Oh’s vocals and poetic diction, creates a retro-eclectic sound unique to Hyukoh.
The band played a number of songs from all three of their albums. Notable crowd-favorites included the epic “Wanli,” “TOMBOY,” and one of the three encore songs, “Wi Ing Wi Ing.” During “TOMBOY,” the audience sang along so enthusiastically that it prompted Oh to stop and film the moment on his phone.
In between album tracks, they played their 2015 soft-rock single “Panda Bear” and rock anthem “MASITNONSOUL,” which was an original sound track for the Korean remake of the American HBO series, Entourage.
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With the exception of Oh, the band members didn’t really interact with the audience, choosing instead to focus solely on their musical performance. And even though a trilingual Oh speaks fluent English, he limited his dialogue with the crowd to only a few occasional comments about the song they were about to play – his quiet demeanor an interesting contrast to his eloquent songwriting and often passionately raw vocal performances.
Despite few words, Hyukoh’s music seemed to speak for itself. Coming from an industry where mainstream popular music is highly manufactured, Hyukoh has distanced themselves from the scene and created a sound genuine to their story. The sold-out New York show was one stop on their growing world tour, proving just how far the distance is taking them.