70. Seoul Electric Band - Life is Strange
Son of the legendary guitarist Shin Joonghyun, there was a certain weight of expectation placed on Shin Yoonchul's shoulders when he decided to step into the studio. On his band's second album, though, they absolutely delivered. Life is Strange is a pastiche of different psychedelic styles, from a softer Beatles-esque style to the more experimental, freaknik edge. This is when SEB confirmed their own legacy.
69. Guckkasten - Guckkasten
Guckkasten's self-titled debut didn't just receive critical acclaim but is often credited with kicking off the rapid growth in indie rock here in the 2010s. Ha Hyun-woo's flamboyant, opera-trained voice and the band's huge rock sound saw Guckkasten gain comparisons to Muse. Multilayered instrumentals incorporating metal, Latin sounds, jazzy feels, and pop elements make this a rock festival staple.
68. Seaweed Mustache - Bombora
"It's not Post Rock, Shoegaze, or Punk," claim the band, "but is the unique way of Seaweed Mustache that contains all of this". One thing that it definitely is, is loud. As well as the genres mentioned above, Bombora also brings in the band's love of metal to the mix. It's absolute din of fuzzy guitars and crashing drums isn't for everyone, but it explores the heavier, more uncomfortable side of shoegaze to perfection.
67. Leenalchi - SUGUNGGA
I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Leenalchi's SUGUNGGA (and in particular, their viral hit Tiger is Coming) ignited the current international interest in traditional Korean music. Whilst not the very first to do it, SUGUNGGA's mix of contemporary electronic ideas with pansori singing has seen the band become a household name and an international presence in Korean indie. This is the sound of six musicians fusing post-punk, new wave, krautrock, and space disco with centuries-old Korean storytelling with a dying Dragon King, a dutiful turtle, and a wily rabbit. What's not to love?
66. Cadejo - FREESUMMER
Cadejo are a slightly odd band to include on a list like this. Don't get me wrong, they're a solid candidate for the best band in the country. But they're also not really an album band. They're a live band. They're a funky, groovy, incredibly accomplished jam band. The fact that they've released six great albums in six years doesn't change the fact that what everyone thinks when they hear the name Cadejo is of that time they saw them at a sunny festival or in a hot basement. Which is fine, of course, but you shouldn't sleep on their records, especially FREESUMMER. Their debut full-length captures a lot of their live energy, from its upbeat highs to the slowed-down grooves. FREESUMMER is a great listen. It also gave us the absolute banger that is Us.
65. CHS - Jungle Sauna
The crunchy grooves of Jungle Sauna, the debut album from Korean indie's tropical soul kings, CHS, is like giving your ears a little holiday. It's shimmering po
64. TENGGER - Spiritual 2
Even before you get to their music, TENGGER are incredible on a conceptual level. They're a multi-national nomadic three-piece new age ambient family band. I mean, come on. But their beautiful style of electronic is soul cleansing. Spiritual 2 was inspired by the feeling we get when we realise "How small we are when stood against nature's majesty".
63. Hyangni - 3
Gun to our head, the most underrated act in Korea is the recently disbanded duo, Hyangni. They had plenty of fans, but if there was any justice, the whole world would unite as one nation with Hyangni's "Hot Sauce" as their national anthem. 3's spacey funk is brilliantly weird and about as much fun as music is ever likely to be.
62. Hypnosis Therapy - PSILOCYBIN
PSILOCYBIN is a full throttle plunge into audio filth: ten tracks of breakbeats, techno-punk skree and rap that refuses to sit still. The Seoul-based duo of producer Jflow and rapper JJANGYOU channels fragmentation and fury into something exhilarating.
61. TRPP - TRPP
The album is a swirl of the band's early '90s British/Irish influences with nods to Cocteau Twins, Stone Roses, and My Bloody Valentine slathered all over this. The effect of dream-pop/shoegaze is often to imply the sensation of nostalgia without pushing the listener to think about the past. It's audio déjà vu, a shimmering wall of comfort to wrap around you, to indulge you, and to reflect something in you that may or may not be there. In its more thoughtful moments, this album does that perfectly.
60. Omar and the Eastern Power - Walking Miles
Walking Miles is the multinational band's debut—formed in Jeju by Moroccan Omar Benassila, Egyptian Zaky Wael, and Koreans Oh Jin-woo and Tehiun. This collection of earthy, soulful jams is driven by dub rhythms and busy Afrobeat. Through hypnotic layered composition and Benassila's evocative lyrics, Walking Miles reflects borderlessness and the band's cross-cultural experience.
59. DTSQ - Neon-Coloured Milky Way
The interstellar psychedelia of DTSQ's debut album goes hard. The dizzying hallucinogenic Neon-Coloured Milky Way combines the freaky sounds of '60s bands like The Electric Prunes, but with a beefy anthemic rock sound. Add together the vivid swirl of Suhyun Kim’s (now of Wahwahwah, obviously) lyrics, and this is a wild, shimmering rainbow of an album.
58. Savina and Drones - Our Time Lies Within
Our Time Lies Within feels like two different albums twisted together. The first is made up of a series of unsettling ambient-inspired art-pop soundscapes. On tracks like "Du:by", "Falling", "There are", and "When I First Saw Your Eyes", we see Savina & Drones' interest in experimental electronica. The other half of the album demonstrates the band's interest in more conventional jazz-pop songwriting. These two wildly different approaches should make for a jarring listen, but somehow it works, with both styles complementing each other to surprising effect.
57. Parasol - Someday
"We did what we wanted to do with this album. Since it's our first studio album, we didn't want to have any will or meaning," explains Parasol singer Kim Naeun. This lethargic, breezy debut from three-piece Parasol is warmly nostalgic with '60s and '70s rock being the main references.
56. The Freaks - Let's Do Nothing
2011's Let's Do Nothing is The Freaks' serene bedroom pop tribute to the aimless malaise of a directionless youth. The gorgeously chill DIY album was the first and only album by the indie band, whose members would all go on to help shape the Korean scene. It's an airy, nostalgic, and influential indie rock classic, and an essential listen for anyone who wants to understand the Hongdae indie scene of the early 2010s.