PUNK/ROCK ASIAN ARTISTS | 100K AND BELOW
BY BRENESSA ROACH | MARCH 6 2023
Some of my favourite artists from my childhood were punk/rock bands and singers so, the genre will always hold a special place in my heart. However, there was a period of time where I stopped listening to punk/rock music because I just liked other genres. This all changed after I started to get into Asian punk/rock artists and bands. I realized that a lot of these Asian artists make me feel nostalgic and it’s because they most likely grew up with influences of punk/rock music that I grew up with as well. This all being said, I have chosen 6 Asian artists that create punk/rock music that brings me back to my childhood.
Let’s get started…
Current Monthly Listeners: 13K
Isné Bobo Nüyent, also known by his artist name Bobo.Xx is a Vietnamese-American artist. He is well known for his concert videography and photography for artists such as; Epik High, Jonas Brothers, The Rose and more. He made his debut to digital streaming platforms in February 2021 with the single “head first into shallow waters”. He has also collaborated with other artists like; TOWERS for“head first into shallow waters – TOWERS Remix”, Hideaway for the song “Manic – Hideaway Remix”, Harms for the single “Halo” and my favourite collaboration which was “The Rain” with G2. My personal favourite song of his is “Tie Dye” which was released in July 2022. This song has such a nostalgic feel and I love the lyrics to it. Bobo.Xx’s latest single is from February and it’s titled “Blood On My Hands”. Additionally, he has a new song coming out this Friday, March 10th titled “Pain” and it’s a song that features Tablo from Epik High! I am so excited for this song as I love Epik High so much and I love Bobo.Xx’s vibes so make sure to pre-save the song!!
Also special thanks to my industry friend and Bobo.Xx’s friend Andy for introducing his music to me.
Listen to “Tie Dye” by Bobo.Xx on Spotify:
Check out Bobo.Xx Instagram: @bobo.xxndigo
Current Monthly Listeners: 83K
LØREN is a singer, DJ and producer from Seoul, South Korea. He is signed to YG Entertainment’s sub-label THEBLACKLABEL and he is the son of Haejin Lee who founded Naver. On November 13, 2020, he made his debut with the single “EMPTY TRASH”. In July 2021, he released his single “NEED (ooo-eee)” which is his most popular song of over 3.5 million streams. His latest single “All My Friends Are Turning Blue” is from November 2021. This song has over 3.3 million streams and is my favourite one of his. Besides working on his own music, he has produced a song for G-DRAGON and also helped write lyrics for BLACKPINK’s “Lovesick Girls” and “Pretty Savage”.
My friend recommended LØREN to me a few weeks ago and although he hasn’t made new music for over a year, I am still enjoying his music and hoping for a comeback soon. Additionally, he is performing at SXSW in Austin, Texas later this month which is super cool!
Listen to “All My Friends Are Turning Blue” by LØREN on Spotify:
Check out LØREN on Instagram: @lorenisalone
Current Monthly Listeners: 8.1K
No Brain is a punk-rock band from South Korea consisting of 4 members; Bulldaegal ( Lee Sung-woo – Vocalist), VOVO (Jeong Min-jun – Guitarist), BBoglw (Jeong Woo-yong – Bassist) and Hyoonga (Hwang Hyun-song – Drummer). The band formed in 1996 in a small club in Hongdae (which is an arts and culture district in Seoul). No Brain was one of the first generation of indie bands in Korea and they are considered one of the pioneers for the punk scene in Korea. They were originally part of the underground punk movement in Korea called Joseon Punk. In 1997, they released their first album Our Nation, Vol. 2 which was in collaboration with the Korean band Weeper. Throughout the years they have released so many EP’s, albums and singles. I actually discovered them this year after the release of their album SUPER HIGH TENSION in January. Absolutely loved their vibes and my favourite song on this new album is “Your Crush On Me”. Although they have been active for 27 years, they only have around 8K monthly listeners so I would definitely love to see those numbers increase because they are super talented.
Listen to “Your Crush On Me” by No Brain on Spotify:
Check out No Brain on Instagram: @officialnobrain
Current Monthly Listeners: 66.3K
The Volunteers is a rock band based in Seoul, South Korea consisting of 4 members; Cloud (band master), Baek Yerin (lead vocalist), Jonny (guitarist) and Chiheon (drummer). The band was formed in 2018 by Cloud and Yerin. Their debut single “Violet” released on May 21, 2018. On May 27, 2021 they released their debut album The Volunteers which consisted of 10 songs. I discovered The Volunteers recently through their song “Summer” which is the 10th song on their debut album. Their latest release is from June 2022 when they released 2 singles; “New Plant” and “Hypocreep”. “Hypocreep” is fun because it has a punk style to it. Hopefully in 2023 they release some more music together.
Listen to “Hypocreep” by The Volunteers on Spotify:
Check out The Volunteers on Instagram: @the_volunteers.com
Current Monthly Listeners: 5.7K
FAZI (法兹) is a Chinese post-punk/Krautrock band from Xi’An, China. The band formed in 2010 and consists of 4 members; Peng Liu (frontman), Jiaxuan Li (bassist), Cheng Ma (guitarist) and Boyang Li (drummer). They made their debut in August 2011 with their single “控制” (I believe this translates to “control”). They released their first album 死海 (Dead Sea) in January 2018. In April 2020, they released a single album consisting of three songs; “Falcon”, “Tian Shui Jing” and “Share My Eyes With You”. My favourite song in general of theirs is “Falcon”. Their latest release was the album *折叠故事 (Folding Story)* on April 21, 2022. They are really cool and they are the first Chinese punk band that I listened to.
Listen to “Falcon” by FAZI on Spotify:
Check out FAZI on Instagram: @fazi.cn
Current Monthly Listeners: 18.6K
Puff Punch is a garage pop band from Jakarta, Indonesia. The band consists of five friends; Farisha Aqilah (vocalist), Rima Cahya (bassist), Rifqi Ramadhan (guitarist), Nabyl Rahardjo (guitarist) and Miraj Al Dzahabi (drummer). Although they are a garage-pop band, their music has a lot of punk energy to it. They made their debut on January 3, 2020 with their debut single “Serotonin”. In September 2020, they released a single album Can We Go Out Now? consisting of 4 songs; “House Arrest”, “Everyday I Miss You”, “You’re Annoying but I Love You” and “Homebody”. I discovered them recently through their latest single album Brighter Days which was released in December 2022. Out of all their songs, my favourite is “Homebody”. Hopefully in 2023 we can get a full length album or even an EP!
Listen to “Homebody” by Puff Punch on Spotify:
Check out Puff Punch on Instagram: @puffpunch
You can find all 6 songs mentioned in this article on our Spotify playlist below:
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