˝Cherry Filter˝ Releases Third Album, Moves beyond Romantic Cat

Modern rock band ˝Cherry Filter,˝ which revived rock music boom with their smashing hit ˝The Romantic Cat,˝ will release their third album titled ˝The Third Eye˝ on Sept. 4. The new album came in almost a year since the second one.

The group indeed carries a modern image. It has a female lead vocal instead of a wild-boy rocker. Members of the band are far from being eccentric and get along with each other well. ˝You are not gonna believe this, but we do not argue. I am not lying,˝ said 26-year-old base guitarist Yeon Yun-guen.

They do not hate to enjoy popularity, either. 27-year-old drummer Son Sang-hyeok, known as his nickname ˝Star Son,˝ said, ˝We are careful not to be entertainers instead of musicians, but being ˝an entertainer˝ would be fun, too.˝

They used to be a club band, but playing at a small club was more fun than performing on stage.

The single title ˝A duck is flying˝ is a light-beat rock number, which reminds of the big hit ˝The romantic cat.˝ It is an interesting coincidence that the two songs have animals in the titles.

The album also contains a rock ballad ˝Snow Man˝ that has an orchestra performance in the beginning part, and a rock-rap featuring MC Sniper ˝No Peace, Yes War?,˝ which carries an anti-war message. ˝Dive˝ has an impressive vocal sound and ˝Assarabia˝ is a funky number. The album carries enriched and clear sound in general. The band says that they try to make clear sound with each and every musical instrument.

The domestic record market remains weak, and 26-year-old vocal Cho Yu-jin says of the release of the new album. ˝The domestic pop music market is evolving so fast that most of singers we were on stage together last year already released their next albums,˝ Cho noted. ˝We wanted to shake off the burden of the second album fast.˝

Cherry Filter will have a nationwide tour in November. Then, it plans to tap the Japanese and European markets. It is not considering entering the Asian market, though. ˝We do not want to be a minor league player,˝ said 27-year-old team leader and guitarist Jung Woo-jin, meaning the band wants to be a big fish in the wide sea of tradition and marketability.

kathycho@donga.com