Indie Bliss with HYUKOH and Sunset Rollercoaster

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together; the same may hold true for music, if the collaboration of K-Indie icons HYUKOH and Taiwanese indie-pop masters Sunset Rollercoaster is anything to go by.

For fans of both groups, it’s no secret they hold each other in esteem. Years past have seen Sunset Rollercoaster cover HYUKOH’s music, and HYUKOH frontman, OHHYUK even featured on the Taiwan-based band’s 2020 song “Candlelight.” The bands, both similar in style and artistic philosophy, have crossed paths time and time again, to a point where it almost seemed like a joint project was inevitable. Fast forward to 2024, four years since either group has released an album, and enter: AAA. The moniker serves as the name for the collaborative project of the two bands and also serves as the title for their first official album together.

The bands kicked off their joint album AAA with pre-release single “Young Man,” an anthemic ode to that magical sense of invincibility that one can only experience in their youthful years. Carried by a punchy bass and a funky synth line, the song ends up being one of the more run-of-the-mill indie-pop tracks on the album: it’s easy to ingest and shows how seamlessly the bands combine into one. A smart move to build the hype for the album, indeed.

One week later sees the AAA team at their full potential in a stunning eight-track album that perfectly merges the sounds of the two bands. Ripe with jazzy influences and a hypnotizing tropical vibe. AAA, the album, starts things off on a high with “Kite War,” a song with languid guitars that give it a psychedelic feel, especially when the beat kicks up double time towards the end. “Y” has an eclectic sound to it, as if both bands attempted to show off every bit of their musicality. “Antenna,” another pre-release, meanwhile, sounds like a hazy summer day in musical form. 

Next up is the spunky and soulful track “Glue,” the most recent to receive the music video treatment. Following the album’s midway point with “Young Man” is swaggy, bossa nova beach tune “Do Nothing” before the album rounds out with “Aaaannnnteeeeennnaaaaaa,” a song that opens with atmospheric chord on a lone guitar that will have you spinning into an existential crisis long before the track reaches its climax. The final notch on the setlist is “2F 年轻人,” a feel-good jam session version of “Young Man” that showcases the two bands’ camaraderie.

As the AAA team said in an official statement, “This album is the result of closely collaborating for about a year starting from May 2023, based on long-time fond friendship and mutual respect for each other.” That much is evident even in just one song off the track—multiply that musical magic by eight and the result is simply divine.

Edited by Lacey Diluvio