Fantastic Drugstore (판타스틱 드럭스토어) - This is Nothing
released: june 12, 2012
1. This is Nothing
2. 만나줄래
3. 똥개
4. 아저씨
5. Bad Girl
★★★
Fantastic Drugstore's debut EP This Is Nothing is something I've been wanting to check out for a long time and I just got around to listening to it last week when my copy arrived. Fantastic Drugstore is a fascinating band - they have this edgy, hip atmosphere to them which I find so very attractive. I was instantly drawn in when I first watched their performance of 아저씨 (ahjusshi) on Top Band 2 (thank god for this show, really, despite the poor quality and the constant letdowns...) and they really didn't disappoint me with their other songs. Kicking it off with the grand opening This is Nothing, the band presents one energetic rock tune after another. 만나줄래 is an awesome garage rock song with kick-ass guitar riffs. The third track, 똥개, is more melodic, still incorporating the fast and intricate guitar riffs. The vocal Im Won Hyuk's performance is noteworthy in the title track 아저씨 which is by far their best song on the EP, with its deadly catchy tunes and pretty hilarious lyrics ("ahjusshi! listen to me. you have gum stuck on your nicely set hair"). By the last track on the EP, Bad Girl, you have a good sense of what their sound is like. I quite enjoy the song Bad Girl as well, it has a slightly different mood from the other songs, although it still maintains the fast-paced garage rock sounds.
Fantastic Drugstore, as a band, is a fantastic band (wow, did I just say that). The only problem with this EP is the sound quality. Whoever engineered this EP did a terrible job. You can tell that under the demo-like quality and the overall flatness of the recording that the songs have every element necessary to make them good tunes. It's just that the poor quality of the recordings really, really get in the way of thoroughly enjoying them through this EP. I do understand that a lot of bands suffer from horrible recording environments in the Korean indie scene, but I've heard a lot better than this come from almost unknown bands. And although the music at the core is what really matters, the technical aspect of an album is really important when it comes to determining the quality of a release, and unfortunately, This Is Nothing fails miserably in that category.
Trust me, Fantastic Drugstore is worth keeping an eye out for in the future. Let's just hope that their next official release will truly capture their sound and do the band justice.
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