V01D turns uncertainty into momentum with YOUTHQUAKE
There is something cinematic about V01D’s next step. Seven months into their career, the five-piece South Korean band has announced the imminent arrival of YOUTHQUAKE, an album which transforms indecision into motion through its very name, and whose final track, “Ending Credit”, refuses to see the end as an ending. Instead, V01D seems more concerned with that period between darkness falling and light flooding in, when the narrative itself may be completed but the individuals within it still continue to move.
Set for October 13 at 6 p.m. KST, YOUTHQUAKE will mark the second mini-album by a band that burst onto the scene in March with 01, an introduction made on the basis of pop-punk attitude, strong guitar licks, solid drumming and bass-driven movement. Continuing in this tradition of a band making music, the new album broadens both its sonic palette and emotional language through its choice of a title that combines “youth” with “quake,” thus positioning hesitancy, uncertainty and drift as not signs of weakness but sources of motion, self-assertion and collective energy.
This makes the project much more thoughtful than just another release would do. YOUTHQUAKE follows the pattern of development from the individual to the collective. The song “My Youth” starts with the problem of the preservation of one’s own identity in the harsh reality and expectations of others. “Scream Out Now” takes the internal tension to the next level and calls for expressing oneself, despite the lingering doubt. “Memory” changes the narrative from “I” to “we” and shows that encounter and joint experience are all a part of a future to come. “Best Part” focuses the feeling of collectivity on the audience of V01D, and “Ending Credit” brings the whole thing to the conclusion in the cinematic way: the last frame can become the start of a new story.
Choosing “Ending Credit” to be one of the songs of the album turns out to be rather symbolic. Having been released beforehand on September 29th, the song precedes the very album, which results in an unintentional tension between the song’s title and its publication time. The credits are coming, but the album is not started yet. In this case, V01D uses its own release schedule to reflect the meaning of the song.
“Ending Credit” is described by V01D as a great and refreshing band song which is characterized by mature vocals and an assertive instrumental performance. The song is positioned in the category of rock and modern rock music, and V01D consists of five people who make up the core live instrumentation with Jung Jiseop playing the electric guitar, Shinnosuke playing bass, Song Yoo-chan playing the drums and Kevin Park playing keyboards. From the production of the song, one can observe that the music of V01D is produced collaboratively and not through a self-contained band process. The lyrics for the song have been written by Leafia of 20Hz along with Park, Jo Joo-yeon and Song. The composition process involves the participation of members along with others from 20Hz and IXE. Arrangement, MIDI programming, drum editing, vocal direction, recording, mixing and mastering are done by a group of professional collaborators that include Park Seul-gi, Lee Eun-cheol, Kang Jun-seok, Na Hye-jin and Kwon Nam-woo.
This is important since the creative identity of V01D was built on exchange rather than isolation. The group has several members coming from different musical backgrounds. Jiseop had experience with guitar playing and group work, Park was a classical musician, Shinnosuke was trained as a bassist in Japan, Yoo-chan came into the group with a hope to recreate a band, and Joo-yeon was from theater background. Instead of showing those differences as problems for the development of their style, Jiseop has called them a set of elements that the group can use in expressing itself on stage.
In addition, the approach of collaborative creation makes YOUTHQUAKE continue the tradition of the earlier music of V01D. Before the release of this album, the group members were already involved in the songwriting and arrangements of some pieces such as "ROCKROCK" and "Tug of War". Jiseop described the latter one as the work with the arrangement designed for emphasizing emotional dynamics. Thus, YOUTHQUAKE should be seen not as the declaration of authorship but rather as a further stage of a process that has started earlier.
Equally, the live performance aspect has been vital for this growth. Following their first solo performance titled “journey #01”, which took place in May, V01D staged “journey #02” on September 20, during which they played songs from YOUTHQUAKE, which were going to be released in an album, such as “Scream Out Now”, “Memory”, and “Ending Credit”. Furthermore, the live performance involved the reworking of covers from King Gnu and WOODZ, thus hinting at the more diversified music palette that V01D could develop. This is very important because, for now, V01D has given the opportunity to the material to be showcased in live performance prior to its official release as an album.
The visual language also progresses along a similar path. The official images of V01D show the band moving from a studio environment to a stage environment prior to the video teaser going out into nature to where the band finds a meteor and then starts to perform together. Light and darkness are used to symbolize a new beginning, continuing on from the theme of transitions that is explored in the album but not becoming too literal in meaning. The cinematic language runs through each of these: scenes, spotlights, light, story and credits all indicate that the band sees this second release not just as songs but as a chapter.
Nevertheless, YOUTHQUAKE is not to be considered a conclusive artistic judgement as yet. Prior to the album’s full unveiling on October 13, the extent of its coherence, contradictions, and surprises cannot possibly be measured fully. All that can presently be perceived is the development of the band towards greater thoughtfulness regarding the connection between its music, live performance and the story it wishes to tell. "Ending Credit" in particular is an impressive indication of such a tendency: it is nostalgic but not sad, energetic but not mindless, and based on the idea that memories may be used as momentum.
For a band that has been around for only seven months, that is probably the most fascinating aspect of YOUTHQUAKE. V01D has not presented itself as having reached a definitive version of the band. It is showing the process of becoming a band. While there is an element of disturbance in the title, it does not have to be something negative. Sometimes the ground shakes simply because something is forming.
It is only at this stage of the process that the credits can start to be read. They will really be rolled out starting on October 13.
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