| Say Sue Me — Where We Were Together (April 13, 2018) |
Say Sue Me — Where We Were Together (April 13, 2018)
• Say Sue Me are a surf~inspired indie rock quartet from Busan, South Korea. Friends since 5th grade Jae Young (Bass) and Kim Byungkyu (guitar) met drummer kang Semin at high school and played in band’s together until the winter of 2012, when one day they were drinking tea and beer at a tea shop in Nampo~dong, when Sumi arrived. They liked her speaking voice and immediately offered her a spot as the vocalist in a new band that would become Say Sue Me. Sumi Choi turned out to be a natural at songwriting.
• Sadly the original drummer is now recovering from a semi~comatose state. While they eagerly await his recovery, they met the new drummer Chang won through the internet.
• Formed in 2012, they released their 1st album [We’ve Sobered Up] in 2013 and EP [Big Summer Night] in 2014 on Korean Indie label Electric Muse.
• Damnably Records of London, England released a Record Store Day exclusive 7″ EP [Semin] and Compilation album of 1st and EP [Say Sue Me] in UK/Europe to coincide with the bands debut UK tour supporting Japan’s Otoboke Beaver that started at a sold out 100 Club in London.
• The band have picked up considerable BBC6Music Radio play from Gideon Coe, Tom Ravenscroft and Don Letts and were included in the BBC introducing Spotify Playlist.
• ‘Good For Some Reason’ is the bands new single to be released on Damnably as a split 7″ single (w/ Otoboke Beaver) and was premiered in The Fader
• Say Sue Me’s second album will be released in spring 2018 when the band appear at SXSW, The Great Escape Festival & tour the UK/EU.
Location: Busan, South Korea
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Dream Pop, Indie Pop, Noise Pop, Shoegaze
Album release: April 13, 2018
Record Label: Damnably Records
Duration: 49:19
Tracks:
01. Let It begin 5:38
02. But I Like You 4:12
03. Old Town 3:53
04. Ours 3:40
05. Funny And Cute 3:38
06. I Just Wanna Dance 2:12
07. B Lover 2:55
08. After Falling Asleep 3:50
09. Here 4:12
10. The Courage To Become Somebody’s Past 3:43
11. Coming To The End 7:36
12. Old Town (Radio edit) 3:50
Personnel:
• Vocals/Guitar : 최수미 Choi Sumi
• Guitar/Chorus : 김병규 Kim Byungkyu
• Bass : 하재영 Ha Jaeyoung
• Drums : 김창원 Kim Changwon
Credits:
• lyrics : Sumi Choi |
• Music : Byungkyu Kim |
• Arrange : Say Sue Me
• Recorded & Mixed by Hakju Chun @Mushroom Recordings
• Mastered by Matthew Barnhart @ Chicago mastering Serice
Say Sue Me: Where We Were Together Review
By Ben Salmon | April 9, 2018 | 11:41am | Score 8.8
• • The best pure indie~pop record of 2018 (so far) is not from Brooklyn or Glasgow or Melbourne or Olympia but Busan, South Korea. The album, Where We Were Together from the band Say Sue Me, is a perfectly paced fusion of jangling guitars, bouncing bass and sighed melancholy. “I’m full of things I hate,” sings frontwoman Sumi Choi, “but I like you.”
• That song is called “But I Like You,” and it starts out with a quick burst of guitar noise before settling into its cotton~candy groove. That noise burst is instructive; Say Sue Me won’t settle for the straightforward path. A similar blast begins the instrumental “About the Courage to Become Somebody’s Past,” but this time it stretches all the way through the track, like a backdrop of grimy chewing gum for a beautiful lullaby unfolding in the foreground. Rarely do you hear pretty and abrasive juxtaposed so plainly, and Say Sue Me pulls it off with playful grace.
• The band mixes all kinds of sounds into its songs. “I Just Wanna Dance” runs on the rumbling rhythm of surf~rock. “B Lover” spasms like Man or Astroman?, as if someone plugged the guitars into an interstellar toaster. “After Falling Asleep” swoops and swirls like a low~key shoegaze song, sliced through by a set of icy cool ooh~ooh~oohs. And opening track “Let It Begin” takes a strand of its DNA from ‘60s doo wop and girl groups.
• Around every corner, Sumi finds the soft spots in our daily trials and triumphs, and she captures them in her own slightly fractured way. “I like being at a noisy bar, a drunk dance to the big sound,” she sings as “Let It Begin” sways around her. “No worries on the faces. Nobody can hear us talk.” The mood is less carefree in “Funny And Cute,” a sparkling, whispery ballad that recalls the great indie~pop songwriter Rose Melberg. “I’m afraid of making new memories without you,” Sumi sings. “I had a variety of days, but can’t keep them in my mind. I’m so tired and can’t dry my eyes.”
• Sumi is not a one~woman band, of course. Guitarist Kim Byungkyu wrote the music on Where We Were Together, and Jae Young’s efficient bass lines keep the band moving forward. Together they form the sturdy backbone of the album’s best track, “Old Town,” a cuddle~punk thriller about the push and pull of home. The song is sleek and slightly frazzled, lithe but potent, and ridiculously catchy — as much so as any pop~rock you’ll hear this year. It’s the peak on an album packed with high points from a band poised for a serious breakthrough. • https://www.pastemagazine.com/
Also:
AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra; Score: ****
• The South Korean indie pop band Say Sue Me’s debut album is built on tragedy but ends up being an uplifting, heartwarming record sure to make hearts soar and nostalgic feelings for bands like Ride, Velocity Girl, and the Darling Buds flood the senses of anyone old enough to remember them (or savvy enough to discover them after the fact.) First, the tragedy. The band’s original drummer, Kang Semin, suffered an accident in 2016 that left him in a coma with a long road to recovery ahead of him. The band derived inspiration from their love of their fallen friend, who functioned as the heart and soul of the band while he played with them. A few of the songs on Where We Were Together were written while Semin helmed the drums; the majority of the others were written about him. He can rest assured that the band did him proud and crafted a lovely album that touches on indie pop, dream pop, surf music, and shoegaze, all with equal skill and precision. Their approach can be gentle and sweet, with vocalist Sumi Choi delivering the sadly nostalgic words in a tender whisper and guitarist Kim Byungkyu strumming simply while also chiming out some great dream pop melodies on songs like “Funny and Cute,” “But I Like You,” and “Here” that pass like puffy clouds on a summer day. They jump feet first into energetic crash pop on “Old Town” and “B Lover,” showing off some nice, sassy attitude on the former and some nice, Cramps~y guitar riffs on the latter. They delve deep into dream pop dynamics, giving the pedals a workout on the quietly epic “After Falling Asleep,” and Byungkyu shows off some impressive high~wire soloing at the end of the “Coming to the End,” the dramatic ballad that ends the album in a haze of vibrating cymbals, frayed guitar strings, and spent emotion. The entire album is packed with emotion despite its sometimes smooth surfaces, even the poppiest tunes like the hip~swinging “Ours” or the slow, swaying “Let It Begin” sound like they have something important and real going on just below the surface. It’s the same feeling the best dream pop and shoegaze bands — Pale Saints, Slowdive, Black Tambourine — evoked. It may be premature to lump Say Sue Me in with such legendary acts, but Where We Were Together is so undeniably good it’s hard not to do just that.
Bandcamp: https://saysueme.bandcamp.com/album/say-sue-me-where-we-were-together
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaySueMe1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaySueMe
Label: http://www.damnably.com/say-sue-me/
Press:
• “It’s 2.50(Good for Some Reason) of deliriously lovely vocals, instrumentation and an attitude that just wants to brighten up your day however you’re feeling. And coming from a band with such a tragic back story? I love them even more for that. An absolute must for indie discos around the country.” — Louder Than War
• “The group hails from South Korea, but don’t let that fool you, as they seem to have the same knack for crafting infectious hooks as everyone’s indie darlings, Alvvays….” — Austin Town Hall
• “Instantly loveable, “Good For Some Reason” is the radiant new track from Say Sue Me, a band who certainly sit as the only “surf~inspired indie rock quartet from Busan, South Korea” that we’ve ever covered on GFP. Hazy, somewhat melancholy, but exuding a beautifully golden glow that lingers for long after the track has finished,…a wonderful burst of guitar pop,” — Gold Flake Paint
_____________________________________________________________
| Say Sue Me — Where We Were Together (April 13, 2018) |
• Sadly the original drummer is now recovering from a semi~comatose state. While they eagerly await his recovery, they met the new drummer Chang won through the internet.
• Formed in 2012, they released their 1st album [We’ve Sobered Up] in 2013 and EP [Big Summer Night] in 2014 on Korean Indie label Electric Muse.
• Damnably Records of London, England released a Record Store Day exclusive 7″ EP [Semin] and Compilation album of 1st and EP [Say Sue Me] in UK/Europe to coincide with the bands debut UK tour supporting Japan’s Otoboke Beaver that started at a sold out 100 Club in London.
• The band have picked up considerable BBC6Music Radio play from Gideon Coe, Tom Ravenscroft and Don Letts and were included in the BBC introducing Spotify Playlist.
• ‘Good For Some Reason’ is the bands new single to be released on Damnably as a split 7″ single (w/ Otoboke Beaver) and was premiered in The Fader
• Say Sue Me’s second album will be released in spring 2018 when the band appear at SXSW, The Great Escape Festival & tour the UK/EU.
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Dream Pop, Indie Pop, Noise Pop, Shoegaze
Album release: April 13, 2018
Record Label: Damnably Records
Duration: 49:19
Tracks:
01. Let It begin 5:38
02. But I Like You 4:12
03. Old Town 3:53
04. Ours 3:40
05. Funny And Cute 3:38
06. I Just Wanna Dance 2:12
07. B Lover 2:55
08. After Falling Asleep 3:50
09. Here 4:12
10. The Courage To Become Somebody’s Past 3:43
11. Coming To The End 7:36
12. Old Town (Radio edit) 3:50
Personnel:
• Vocals/Guitar : 최수미 Choi Sumi
• Guitar/Chorus : 김병규 Kim Byungkyu
• Bass : 하재영 Ha Jaeyoung
• Drums : 김창원 Kim Changwon
Credits:
• lyrics : Sumi Choi |
• Music : Byungkyu Kim |
• Arrange : Say Sue Me
• Recorded & Mixed by Hakju Chun @Mushroom Recordings
• Mastered by Matthew Barnhart @ Chicago mastering Serice
By Ben Salmon | April 9, 2018 | 11:41am | Score 8.8
• • The best pure indie~pop record of 2018 (so far) is not from Brooklyn or Glasgow or Melbourne or Olympia but Busan, South Korea. The album, Where We Were Together from the band Say Sue Me, is a perfectly paced fusion of jangling guitars, bouncing bass and sighed melancholy. “I’m full of things I hate,” sings frontwoman Sumi Choi, “but I like you.”
• That song is called “But I Like You,” and it starts out with a quick burst of guitar noise before settling into its cotton~candy groove. That noise burst is instructive; Say Sue Me won’t settle for the straightforward path. A similar blast begins the instrumental “About the Courage to Become Somebody’s Past,” but this time it stretches all the way through the track, like a backdrop of grimy chewing gum for a beautiful lullaby unfolding in the foreground. Rarely do you hear pretty and abrasive juxtaposed so plainly, and Say Sue Me pulls it off with playful grace.
• The band mixes all kinds of sounds into its songs. “I Just Wanna Dance” runs on the rumbling rhythm of surf~rock. “B Lover” spasms like Man or Astroman?, as if someone plugged the guitars into an interstellar toaster. “After Falling Asleep” swoops and swirls like a low~key shoegaze song, sliced through by a set of icy cool ooh~ooh~oohs. And opening track “Let It Begin” takes a strand of its DNA from ‘60s doo wop and girl groups.
• Around every corner, Sumi finds the soft spots in our daily trials and triumphs, and she captures them in her own slightly fractured way. “I like being at a noisy bar, a drunk dance to the big sound,” she sings as “Let It Begin” sways around her. “No worries on the faces. Nobody can hear us talk.” The mood is less carefree in “Funny And Cute,” a sparkling, whispery ballad that recalls the great indie~pop songwriter Rose Melberg. “I’m afraid of making new memories without you,” Sumi sings. “I had a variety of days, but can’t keep them in my mind. I’m so tired and can’t dry my eyes.”
• Sumi is not a one~woman band, of course. Guitarist Kim Byungkyu wrote the music on Where We Were Together, and Jae Young’s efficient bass lines keep the band moving forward. Together they form the sturdy backbone of the album’s best track, “Old Town,” a cuddle~punk thriller about the push and pull of home. The song is sleek and slightly frazzled, lithe but potent, and ridiculously catchy — as much so as any pop~rock you’ll hear this year. It’s the peak on an album packed with high points from a band poised for a serious breakthrough. • https://www.pastemagazine.com/
Also:
AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra; Score: ****
• The South Korean indie pop band Say Sue Me’s debut album is built on tragedy but ends up being an uplifting, heartwarming record sure to make hearts soar and nostalgic feelings for bands like Ride, Velocity Girl, and the Darling Buds flood the senses of anyone old enough to remember them (or savvy enough to discover them after the fact.) First, the tragedy. The band’s original drummer, Kang Semin, suffered an accident in 2016 that left him in a coma with a long road to recovery ahead of him. The band derived inspiration from their love of their fallen friend, who functioned as the heart and soul of the band while he played with them. A few of the songs on Where We Were Together were written while Semin helmed the drums; the majority of the others were written about him. He can rest assured that the band did him proud and crafted a lovely album that touches on indie pop, dream pop, surf music, and shoegaze, all with equal skill and precision. Their approach can be gentle and sweet, with vocalist Sumi Choi delivering the sadly nostalgic words in a tender whisper and guitarist Kim Byungkyu strumming simply while also chiming out some great dream pop melodies on songs like “Funny and Cute,” “But I Like You,” and “Here” that pass like puffy clouds on a summer day. They jump feet first into energetic crash pop on “Old Town” and “B Lover,” showing off some nice, sassy attitude on the former and some nice, Cramps~y guitar riffs on the latter. They delve deep into dream pop dynamics, giving the pedals a workout on the quietly epic “After Falling Asleep,” and Byungkyu shows off some impressive high~wire soloing at the end of the “Coming to the End,” the dramatic ballad that ends the album in a haze of vibrating cymbals, frayed guitar strings, and spent emotion. The entire album is packed with emotion despite its sometimes smooth surfaces, even the poppiest tunes like the hip~swinging “Ours” or the slow, swaying “Let It Begin” sound like they have something important and real going on just below the surface. It’s the same feeling the best dream pop and shoegaze bands — Pale Saints, Slowdive, Black Tambourine — evoked. It may be premature to lump Say Sue Me in with such legendary acts, but Where We Were Together is so undeniably good it’s hard not to do just that.
Bandcamp: https://saysueme.bandcamp.com/album/say-sue-me-where-we-were-together
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaySueMe1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaySueMe
Label: http://www.damnably.com/say-sue-me/
Press:
• “It’s 2.50(Good for Some Reason) of deliriously lovely vocals, instrumentation and an attitude that just wants to brighten up your day however you’re feeling. And coming from a band with such a tragic back story? I love them even more for that. An absolute must for indie discos around the country.” — Louder Than War
• “The group hails from South Korea, but don’t let that fool you, as they seem to have the same knack for crafting infectious hooks as everyone’s indie darlings, Alvvays….” — Austin Town Hall
• “Instantly loveable, “Good For Some Reason” is the radiant new track from Say Sue Me, a band who certainly sit as the only “surf~inspired indie rock quartet from Busan, South Korea” that we’ve ever covered on GFP. Hazy, somewhat melancholy, but exuding a beautifully golden glow that lingers for long after the track has finished,…a wonderful burst of guitar pop,” — Gold Flake Paint