Home / News / Punk band Genius release new album and slew of videos [Korea]

Punk band Genius release new album and slew of videos [Korea]

By on August 26, 2017

“We’re GENIUS from Busan, South Korea and we play rock and roll. Our Bandcamp says “We’re not punk. Just drunk.” But that’s only 80% true.

Now, we’re mostly just old grumpy dudes. Since forming in 2009, we’ve released 3 LPs and 1 EP, toured 4 countries, played a bunch of festivals, and opened for Japandroids, This Will Destroy You, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ra Ra Riot, No Age, The King Khan & BBQ Show, French Horn Rebellion, Jeffrey Lewis, Carsick Cars, Xiu Xiu, Retros, etc. etc.

We’ve released our 4th album “별바다” August 1, 2017 through BGBG Record (붕가붕가레코드).

Our Korean label calls this album “late, drunken night 5:30am rock and roll,” but that better describes our past releases. After three albums of irony, anger, and jokes, we found ourselves looking around like: “…So now what?”

We’ll always love the punk spirit, but after saying “fuck this” to so many things, what’s left? Where does one go from there?

On the new album “별바다” we’re trying to figure this out. Here are a few music videos sharing what we’ve arrived at:

Our guitarist/vocalist Kim Il Du (2016 KMA Nominee for Best Folk Album, 2013 GQ Korea’s Voice of the Year), has been a critically acclaimed solo musician since his 2013 debut album “곱고 맑은 영혼,” but up until now his career has been marked by a division between his solo folk/ballad music and GENIUS’s punk/garage (named one of the country’s best live acts 2013 by Korea Gig Guide and our last album “Beaches” was named one of 2014’s best by WEIV). This album, however, attempts to merge those two worlds.

“너나나나”
This shift in music and lyrics is first heard in “너나나나” (and in the slower tracks “It’s Great” and “그밤그길”) 7+ mid-tempo minutes about gratitude and loss in simple lyrical fragments. We like having a young child star in this video, as well as the idea of exploring the world with fresh eyes. That’s kind of what we’re doing on this album too.

“2226”
We haven’t forgotten our roots though, and we hit harder on “2226.” This video is the sequel or counterpart to 너나나나’s. It’s about flying to space, drinking hot water, and being happy. (Not kidding.)

“They Were Good”
This song is slightly psychedelic in its lyrics, about two cops and eating sunflowers. It sounds sunny and bright and feels like getting high and walking the streets on a day off from work.

Thanks for your time. There’s no official English translation for the name of this album, but, personally, I’m going with “Sea of Stars.”

https://www.facebook.com/GeniusRock/

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