Rookie rock group Dragon Pony’s Pop Up impressed me last year, so much that they nearly climbed the top of my 2024 rookies list. Powerful vocals paired with strong songwriting will always appeal to me no matter the genre. Pop Up also managed to house a hook so anthemically pleasing that it became undeniable. Follow up Not Out isn’t as airtight, but it packs a few wallops that pull it over the line.
In contrast with the bounding energy of Pop Up, Not Out plays its hand more furtively. The verses are more downbeat and sentimental, leaving the chorus to do the heavy lifting. The song really comes to life during its power notes, where vocalist An Tae-gyu’s commanding tone is allowed to flourish. This is Dragon Pony’s strongest calling card and I’d love to hear more of it. So much of the indie rock scene in Korea focuses on gentler, more OST-ready sounds. Dragon Pony have the goods to go full-on pomp rock.
Since Not Out‘s lopsided sound makes for a much less instantaneous rush than their debut, I’ll be curious to see how the song ages. Though I find myself slogging through the verses to get to the chorus, the fact that there are still highlights worth waiting for bodes well.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Wow this is really cool, this guy has a beautiful voice. Both this song and Pop up are slightly reminiscent of the Killers for me (especially the “we gotta go crazy” part in this song) which I love, because I looove the Killers.
Outside my love for kpop I have been almost exclusively a rock fan so if anyone sees this comment, could you please recommend some korean rock songs that you like ? The only ones I can think of that have a rock “vibe” are some BigBang ballads that I love (Blue, Crooked) and Fake love (the rocking vibe mix), but these are not exactly rock songs. This crossover is so fun to me since rock music is not at all the reason why I started listening to korean music (although I suppose at the time it gave me a feeling similar to the feeling I associated with my fav rock bands *sigh)
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just a small correction to my comment, neither Blue nor Crooked are ballads actually so idk why I said that
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I believe NFlying are back in business after the military hiatus. THey were one of my favorite snot nose indy groups for a loooong while who finally got some recognition in the industry. (When they won their first music show, the drummer, my drummer crush, cried like a baby, it was so touching.) Highlights – The Real, Hot Potato.
Also check out the lead lead singer Yoo Hwe Seung singing “Still Love You” written for him by labelmate Lee Hong Gi of FTIsland. Featuring the 6 high notes, like hold my beer while I sing this.
I also just discovered Touched. Ridiculously talented Girl power!
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Thank you for the recommendations. I just listened to all the songs you mentioned and hot potato will definitely become a favorite, killer chorus.
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I’d recommend checking out the band Rolling Quartz if you haven’t already! My favorite song by them is Fearless, but I don’t think you can go wrong with any of their tracks. Also as a Dreamcatcher fan I feel obligated to mention them since they have a lot of rock elements in their stuff. I’d recommend checking out the concert version of their song Curse Of The Spider. They released a recording last year and it’s incredible.
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Thank you, I had never heard of Rolling Quartz, Fearless and Stand up definitely piqued my interest. As for Dreamcatcher, I hadn’t listened to Curse of the spider, I loved the concert version! Actually Dreamcatcher is one of the first korean groups I ever listened to because I had googled “songs like fake love” back in 2018-2019 and there was a reddit post about it that suggested Dreamcatcher for some reason (I guess because of the anime-type vibe and the guitar?). I love You and I, Boca and Piri a lot.
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I recommend checking out bands day6, jannabi, hyukoh, nell, and songolmae 🙂
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Holy shit, this kid can belt the shit out of High C. I mean, he better, as that note is The Note that holds the whole chorus together, over and over and over. .
You know what else I like about this group? They are Genuine. 4 guys playing their hearts out, no styling, no fussing, just stand up and play the awesome songs. They remind me a bit of NFlying – doing their own thing, a lead singer who can sing circles around the rest of the industry, and I also am crushing on the drummer.
Yes for me. mid to high 8’s.
There is a live live version.
https://youtu.be/sSgwFIgo_MY
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I’m a sucker for bands, a sucker for this guy’s voice, a sucker for PopUp and guess what, a sucker for this song too. I hope I can see them live one day. Already seen The Rose, NFlying, XdinaryHeroes, Woodz (with a band), and soon will see Onewe, CNBlue and DAY6…being a sucker is not too bad I guess. It’s a 9/10 for me
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I love k-bands and woah I like this a lot. I think I’m going to try to keep up with their future music. thanks for introducing me to them
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