Banran 'Stop Kor' review shit.

 

So I saw this review for the Banran 'Stop Kor' EP on the 'Even Worse Records' website.  I'm not sure offhand, but my guess is that it came from the most recent issue of Maximum Rocknroll. I'm going to act like the reviewer and not care enough to find out any of those important details. Perhaps the KS is Ken Sanderson of Prank Records?

I've gotta say the review is solid as far as describing the sound of the band.  It's also pretty much right on as far as it's importance as the first international DIY fast hardcore record to come from a Korean band (and one of the first and only DIY independent bands to ever release anything internationally), the review slides into the oblivion of lukewarm PC analysis that is so common from certain reviewers.  Seems that the reviewer was held back by the fact that he simply didn't undertand the lyrics.

What's not to understand?  I know the reviewer is eager to lump all Asian hardcore releases together, recalling certain songs by Gauze and of course anything that came from the warped mind of Sakevi- not least of all GISM.  However, he or she could benefit from a closer reading of the lyric sheet.  I guess I shouldn't take it personal, but I did proofread the lyric sheet when the singer Yongjoon came up with it.  It was hard to decide what to edit when you are dealing with someone's personal creative output.  So basically, I left it alone.  I thought it made perfect sense.

Many outside of Asia in general, and Korea in particular may not know about the sex industry and all of it's accompanying ills that Yongjoon is talking about.  Yes, not only in Thailand or Vietnam, but in Japan and specifically in Korea, there exists a sometimes unspoken taboo regarding the place in society of such an institution.   I'm not going to comment on the history of this, or any kind of judgmental analysis; but all I'm saying is that it exists.  I thought that position in the lyrics was pretty obvious in it's negative reaction to this aspect of Korean culture.  I understand that if you aren't from Korea, this might not make sense out of context, but let's look at some lyrics now that we do have this context.

One Dollar

Give Charity to her

Give sympathy to her

benevolence in the name of 

you would be proud of yourself

THe power in the name of

but, if you give it to her

she's gonna take off your pants

She just say. 'give me one dollar'

This is survival to her

This is a amusement to you.

I think the last paragraph is pretty straight-forward.  There isn't any grey-area.  Like I said, I'm not going to try and analyze any of the lyrics specifically... but  I do want to put the lyrics up here, just so people who may have read the review can make the decision for themselves.  

A song on the other side, 'She's not your stuff" is even more clear in it's position:

You hope to escape from under siege

or hope to got forced youve never had

but shes not a merch you buy or sell

also not a treasure you lock up

shes not your stuff!

Speaks for itself. To be fair, the reviewer did give the lyrics a 'pass' (???) based on his inability to understand them.  But still, I think the reviewer needs to stop being so lazy in his assumptions about Asian hardcore, or just read a little more critically.