K-pop Indie Gem: Glen Check

Welcome to another week of the K-pop Indie Gem, this time focused on band, Glen Check. Glen Check started off as a two-member band in 2011, when singer and guitarist Kim June-one and bass and synthesizer player Kang Hyuk-Jun, who had met during high school, released the EP Disco Elevator. Signed under Soundholic Entertainment, house of infamous K-indie band Jaurim, they added a third member, Ryu Jeon-Yeol, at the end of 2011, but he left some months after the release of their first full-length album, Haute Couture.

Although they mention influences from traditional Korean sounds and African music, Glen Check defines their style as indie-dance and electro-rock with a strong European influence, especially from the British indie-rock scene. Their first EP, Disco Elevator, was released in February 2011 with four tracks. Two of these are different versions of the same song, “Dressing Room”.

Just one month later they released a special iTunes edition, which included new versions of their previously released tracks as well as a new one, “Addicted”. In September that same year, they came back with a new EP, Au Revoir, which included only two tracks, one of them sharing the album’s title, and the other one, “60’s Cardin”.

Drummer Ryu Jeon-Yeol joined the band then, and Glen Check finally released a full album in February this year as a three-member group. Along with nine new songs, Haute Couture also included the tracks that were in in Au Revoir. They released a MV for “French Virgin Party” and “Battaille!”, as well as a collaboration with Fred Perry Subculture and Viewzic for the MV of “Racket”, which marked the beginning of a visual aspect in their career.

They spent the summer performing in festivals such as the SAVe tHE AiR Green Concert and are scheduled to release new material pretty soon. On the heels of their supposed new release/s, they will also be performing a solo concert at the end of the year.

Although more known for their electro-rock albums, Glen Check also spends some time in parallel projects. They dabble in mixtapes and remix versions of other artists — both international such as Britney Spears, Adele or Justice, and local like GD&TOP or Lee Hyori — as well as their own. In addition to making music, the group has also stated that they want to put some emphasis on the visual side of their career, and work more frequently and consistently with VJs and visual artists such as EYEJIN.

They are definitely one of the most anticipated and highly promising bands in the growing indie music scene in Korea, and it seems that their fame is only getting bigger. With their new EP out today, and a MV release at the beginning of October, Glen Check is gonna tick on your radar and will probably remain there for some time to come.

(EYEJIN’s flickr, Soundholic Entertainment, PlasticTV, PARPUNK)