[ATTENDED: March 23, 2024] Drinking Boys and Girls Choir [드링킹소년소녀합창단]
I’ve had limited exposure to Drinking Boys and Girls Choir, except that they are on the same label as Otoboke Beaver. I knew that they were from South Korea, but only recently learned that Daegu is one of the most conservative cities in the country (“it sucks,” singer/bassist Meena Bae said).
Meena Bae and Myeong-jin Kim (drums & vocals) started the band in 2012. They’ve gone through a few guitarists over the years and have now grabbed Scottish guitarist Megan Nisbet who joined the band in 2020 (and had been studying Korean for 15 years!).
I was really excited that they were opening for Otoboke Beaver. I was hoping to buy a copy of their record but I forgot a bag and I didn’t want to hole a record for the entire show (and it’s a good thing, too as Otoboke Beaver fans are wild).
The trio came out and immediately launched into their rockingest songs. Their debut album Keep Drinking!! is more wild and fun than the follow up Marriage License, although Marriage still rocks pretty hard. They played songs from both albums and really mixed up the intensity and pacing of the show.
I was in front of Megan, but Meena was very active, running around the stage and making sure we all saw her as she danced and hopped. She was a bundle of energy and a lot of fun, too.
Their songs are punky and super catchy with lots of backing vocals. The first couple of songs were fast with the band showing off their chops. Meena jumped around and Myeong-jin (who goes by MJ) was an impressive drummer–fast and intense and always on beat.
During “Red Shift,” Megan demonstrated her guitar chops with some super impressive soloing.
Some of their songs featured lead vocals by one of their previous members, but they played them anyhow and they sounded great.
But even if the newer songs are a bit softer, “Hit the Corner” is fast and heavy and I was fascinated to see the MJ had a double bass drum pedal and was using it furiously.
Some of the lyrics are in Korean and some in English, so it’s fun to try to figure out if you can figure out the fast words or if they are in Korean.
I was really surprised to hear them play “Linda Linda” a song t hat I know of because of the band The Linda Lindas. I thought it was odd that they would play this song until I found out that they recorded a single of it before the U.S. band had become known and, in fact, have been playing the song for years. That’s pretty cool. Meena jumped off the stage and chatted with a little girl whose name was Lynn. It was really cute.
“National Police Shit” is super catchy, sung in English and really quite funny. It’s less than 2 minutes long and features the line “This is just Skateboard!”
It was followed by “History” their first single recorded with Megan (a new album is on the way, I believe). They ended with a rocking version of “Wish” and Meena ran into the audience to do some slam dancing with the crowd (all while playing). Then she ran back up on stage to lead the band in a blistering version of their anthemic song Keep Drinking!
The show was awesome and I think they’re winning over audiences all over North America.
I Just Read About That... 