Music Monday | HYUKOH — 와리가리 (Comes And Goes)

Hello my loves~ I’m feelin’ indie for today’s Music Monday post~ It’s also a bit of a throwback as it is a bit older now. Today I’ll be sharing hyukoh’s 「와리가리 (Comes And Goes)」. I know I love my K-R&B and K-Pop hits, but I figured we could deviate and share something different today. After all, the whole point of Music Monday is to introduce music you might not be familiar with and to try new sounds and genres. Alright, let’s keep it simple and get straight to it~

HYUKOH is a Korean indie band that was formed in May 2014. It consists of members Oh Hyuk (leader, singer, guitarist), Im Dong Geon (bassist), Lim Hyun Jae (guitarist), and Lee In Woo (guitar). The band’s name is basically Oh Hyuk’s name in western format. Oh Hyuk grew up in several cities in northern China due to his parents’ professions as university professors. So he speaks Korean, Mandarin, and English. As such, you can see the diverse influence and languages reflected in HYUKOH’s music. Here’s a bonus of them performing a Teresa Teng classics [「月亮代表我的心/Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin (The Moon Represents My Heart)」] and [「甜蜜蜜/Tian Mi Mi」]. Anyway, despite his parents’ opposition, Oh Hyuk moved to South Korea to pursue music full-time after he graduated high school. Originally he was producing as a one-man band under the name Hyukoh. The other members joined in 2014 and they began being a four-piece band instead. Apparently Oh Hyuk had worked with Lee In Woo before, Lee In Woo went to high school with Lim Hyun Jae, and Im Dong Geon was introduced to Oh Hyuk through a mutual acquaintance. Their debut EP 20, named after their age at the time, was released on September 18, 2014. Apparently, they were pretty successful and sold out small-scale venues, as well as had a pretty good following in Hongdae. For those of you that don’t know, Hongdae is an area in Seoul that’s basically the indie epicenter, and overall known as the “hip and cool place” for younger people. They started gaining mainstream attention after appearing on Infinite Challenge in 2015. Here’s a bonus of Oh Hyuk [performing their song 「Gondry」 with IU] on that show. Their appearance was about 2 months after the release of their second EP 22. It basically got them charting in the top 10 of the Billboard World Albums chart. In July of that year, they became the first band to sign with HIGHGRND. HIGHGRND was an independent label and subsidiary of YG Entertainment, with Tablo of Epik High as the head. If I remember correctly HYUKOH also performed at Coachella and SXSW as well. Also, while the band is seen as indie, they also kind of intersect with R&B at times. Especially because Oh Hyuk also does have solo projects and things as OHHYUK. His solo stuff is definitely often within the K-R&B scene. He’s also worked with indie Korean-American artist [Yaeji]. Also, I think it’s cute that they’re all kinda shy and socially awkward, but it’s clear that they love performing~

I will say, overall, HYUKOH and OHHYUK have very…unique tastes and style. At times, it’s kinda out there…so fitting of an indie group. But I do love their jams, especially from 20 and 22. Although, admittedly, I am more into the R&B stuff. It’s definitely kind of how I stumbled upon them. Some of my faves of HYUKOH include: [「WI ING WI ING (위잉위잉)」], [「Gondry(공드리)」], [「Tokyo Inn」] and [「GOLD (Chet Faker)」]. As for stuff from and featuring OHHYUK: Epik High’s [「빈차 (HOME IS FAR AWAY) (Feat. OHHYUK)」] (absolute fave), IU’s [「사랑이 잘 (Can’t Love You Anymore) (Feat. OHHYUK)」],Primary’s 「Gondry(공드리) (Feat. OHHYUK & Lia Kim)」], Primary’s [「BAWLING (Feat. OHHYUK)」], Primary’s [「Island (Feat. OHHYUK)」]. I absolutely love Primary’s (Korean producer) more K-R&B/Pop version of [「Gondry(공드리)」 with OHHYUK and Lia Kim]. It’s a nice contrast to the band’s indie version. All the Primary tracks slap though, TBH. Also, I originally was gonna go with 「WI ING WI ING (위잉위잉)」 for today’s post, but went for something a bit more uhh…upbeat and funky? Oh Hyuk also has a really interesting voice and it’s fascinating to me how it’s so versatile to fit both indie/rock and R&B. He has these really loud and powerful vocals at times. Yet, his voice is also very chill, soft, and soothing at times. A perfect example is his vocals in 「Gondry(공드리)」 or his vocals in the more R&B tracks like 「Bawling」. I also find it interesting how he has this almost signature vocal fry sound to his voice when he hits the louder and stronger notes.

Again, today’s focus is the track 「와리가리 (Comes And Goes)」, aka Wari Gari, from HYUKOH’s EP 22. Again, the name of the EP was to reflect the band members’ age at the time. What can I say about the album other than, it most definitely sounds like an indie band album. You got some tracks that are more chill and vibey, and others that are more funky and upbeat. All the tracks are pretty good, but the ones that I liked and stood out the most to me were in fact 「와리가리 (Comes And Goes)」 and 「Gondry(공드리)」. Those were the ones that instantly stood out to me and I loved on the first listen.「Gondry(공드리)」 is definitely a softer and more chill track. Still, I think out of the two, I would definitely go to 「와리가리 (Comes And Goes)」 first. I just love the guitar intro/loop. Especially the intro part where it’s just the loop with Oh Hyuk’s vocals. Then it kicks it up with some more funky guitar and other elements to it. It’s just really catchy. So I can definitely see this as being the track that would be most “mainstream friendly”. Despite it being this fun, funky, and catchy track…the lyrics are actually kinda sad? It really is about how things come and go, having familiarity and then feeling like you’re no longer present, and how people will eventually leave. Like it’s depressing, but at the same time, it’s the fact of life. So I guess the catchy and upbeat music kinda shows how we’ll keep going anyway.

You can find and the rest of 「와리가리 (Comes And Goes)」  on the EP 22 on Spotify, here:

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I’mma skip posting the lyric translations this time. Y’all can see it in the CC of the music video~

As a random bonus, I’mma throw in Chancellor’s cover. It’s like an edgy R&B interpretation. Chancellor is a Korean-American K-R&B singer and producer. He was formerly known as Chance, and was a member of a K-R&B group called [ONEWAY (원웨이)]. Older K-Pop fans might recognize them from the track [「Rainy Days」 which featured Jun.K (formerly Junsu) of 2PM]. He eventually left the group and pursued a solo career. Y’all might recognize him from his song [「Angel」 which features Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation], as well as [「Walking In The Rain」 with Younha]. He was also known as Juniper and a part of the production team Duble Sidekick

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Anyway, that’s it my loves~ I hope you enjoyed the track. I kinda had trouble deciding on what I was feeling for Music Monday. But it’s nice to switch it up a bit. While my preferences do lean more towards R&B/hip hop and pop, I do want to share things that suit a variety of people and their tastes~ Again, my whole purpose for Music Monday isn’t just to share music I like, but to introduce music and artists you might not be familiar with~ I don’t know about y’all, but I always find it to be fun to discover new songs and artists. Especially ones that might not have been on my radar before~ That being said, I’m sorry for the hella inconsistent posting schedule. Again, I’m kinda on semi-hiatus, but I’ll try my best to post more content whenever I can~ Anyway, that’s all for today~ Y’all take care! Stay safe, stay hydrated, and have a wonderful start to your week!~

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