`Crying Nut` `Plays With the Big Fish `

`Crying Nut`, a representing rock group among the independent bands, hurdled over the wall of inde-band. They said, ``we are targeting the main stream of popular music after hurdling over the wall of inde`` by presenting their third album, `Hasuyeonga`.

With this album, the `Crying Nut` is trying to be the `H.O.T. of rock. They trimmed their rough sound, the peculiar style of inde-bands, creating a clean and divers music.

Title song `In The Thick of the Night` shockingly changes their existing image. With its soft sound, cheerful rhythm, vocal harmony, and romantic words, such as ` Picking Up the Weary Moon.`, they deserve to be called a `traitor` by other inde-bands.

It seems that they have decided to be famous. They said, ``we don’t want to be locked in the category of funk or inde. There is no fixed form in funk. It is a free living attitude.``

Music critic Lim Jin-Mo evaluate saying, ``their transformation is not an opportunism that follows the main stream. It’s a soft-landing of a veteran artist.``

Every single song is valuable since they all contain aspects of strong and soft sounds, humor, and satire.

`The bitter song` which was included as a sound track in the movie ``The Moonlit Night` still has their powerful sound and the rapid-firing-gun-like direct words making the listeners chilled to their bones. In addition, their arranging ability also deserves to be praised. They used polka style delightful rhythm and added the sound of an accordion with its deep lingering sound.

`The Red Room` is a song in which the sorrow of a prostitute was well expressed with the accordion sound. The superb performance by the vocalist Park Yun-Sik and the lament of the solo cello displays that it’s the `Crying Nut` style ballad.

`Not a Funny Story`, a waltz style song, `The Ditch`, a song that was inserted in the movie ``Find Lee So-Ryong` for which the `Crying Nut` starred, and the humorous ``King of Comedy` are all wonderful music in which their fully matured musical abilities are displayed.

They said, ``we express the life stories of our generation (20s) through music. This means that although their lives are not always happy, they need to step forward riding the horse of romance and hope.``

The `Crying Nut` is a group that gained fans from their two albums, `Let’s Ride a Horse` and `The Wandering Magic Circus Troupe` leading the wave of inde-bands during the mid1990s. Especially, they fused various genres such as reggae, polka, and samulnory under the name of `Chosun funk` without imitating Western funk.

The members include Park Yun-Sik (25), Lee Sang-Myun (25), Lee Sang-Hyuk (25), Han Kyung-Lok (24), Kim In-Soo (27). Among them, Kim In-Soo is an accordion player who became a regular member from the third album.

Heo Yeub heo@donga.com