Balming Tiger – ‘January Never Dies’ review: sonic explorations from adventurous alt K-pop collective

19 October, 2023

Balming Tiger

Balming Tiger’s long-awaited debut album ‘January Never Dies’ begins in cacophony. Piano keys tinkle in discordance, sax melodies wobble between and drum beats clatter haphazardly over the top. It’s a tumbling, chaotic introduction, but also a fitting one, as if you’re falling down the rabbit hole into the multinational “alternative K-pop” group’s world. It’s a realm that is surreal and colourful, giddily fun but laced with important sentiments.

Since their inception in 2018, the collective has expanded to now comprising of nearly a dozen singer-songwriters, rappers, producers and directors. Some of their most recognisable members include director San Yawn, rapper Omega Sapien, and singer-songwriters sogumm and Mudd The Student, but the group’s sprawling number reflects a boundary-less creativity – if some outfits are hindered by having many artistic voices, Balming Tiger are bolstered by it.

This diversity of approach is evident throughout ‘January Never Dies’, an addictive album that comes good on the promise of early singles ‘Armadillo’, ‘Just Fun!’, and last year’s ‘Sexy Nukim’, which boasted a feature from BTS’ RM and is present on the tracklist here. There are woozy instrumentals, like ‘Pigeons And Plastic’ and retro-tinged rap beauties (‘UP!’), lo-fi surf-punk (‘Riot’) and jittery, wiry guitars merging with baritone-heavy slow jams (‘SOS’).

What all these eclectic and inventive creations have in common, though, is an unwavering commitment to unpredictability. When you press play on any one of these songs, you’re very unlikely to end up in the same place as beforfe, each track going on its own unique sonic journey. Balming Tiger keep us on our toes but, instead of being an exhausting exercise, it’s consistently exhilarating.

‘Bodycoke’, which contains the iconic line “Supersoaker pussy got a Coca-Cola bottle body”, is perhaps one of the record’s more straightforward tracks but still finds time to dip into a groggy bridge, its pulsating beat replaced by a drowsy refrain and the distant chant of “go, go, go”. Elsewhere, the revving new wave of ‘Scumbag’ morphs through dancefloor-ready grooves and changing time signatures into an insistent plea of, “Let’s get out of this small town”. ‘5:5 Dharma’ begins as an acoustic guitar strum layered with a crackling recording of the modulated, high-pitched voice of streamer Cherry Jang. Less than a minute in, though, it adds a full collage of instruments before drifting out on a glittering tapestry of notes and squeaky fragments of Cherry’s voice.

‘January Never Dies’ isn’t just here for a good time, though. Among the thrills and frenzy are messages tied to the youth culture in Balming Tiger’s home base, but that will also strike a chord across the globe. ‘Kamehameha’, named after a Korean drinking game, deals with the illusion of confidence alcohol gives us, while ‘Trust Yourself’ offers encouragement to follow your intuition and not let life overwhelm you into giving up.

Most persistently relevant on a grand scale is the gnarly rap-rock of ‘Sudden Attack’, which finds the group delivering a rallying cry of, “Fuck this war, I want peace” over riffs that could take out a whole deployment of heavy artillery. Through this, Balming Tiger prove themselves as offering both respite and resistance, a reflection of not just a microcosm of Seoul, but a broader society trying to make it through. We don’t deserve them, but we most certainly need them.