Goodbye Roo'ra, Hello Country Kko Kko
© Susan Johnson-Roehr
It's been four years now since Roo'ra broke up for the first time. After some down time, the group reappeared with a new line up consisting of Go Young-Wook, Kim Ji-Hyun, Chae Rina, and Lee Sang-Min. News now is that the group is again disbanding, and Roo'ra 8: Best & Last is indeed supposed to be the group's last album. It's too bad the quartet is giving it up, as they did pretty well with Roo'ra 7. The techno-trance title song, P'oongbyuhngigook [RealAudio], did a decent job of climbing the charts, so I'm not sure what's behind the dissolution of the band. In related news, I'm pleased to announce that Roo'ra spin-off group Country Kko Kko is going strong. You might recall that Country Kko Kko consists of Shin Jung Hwan and Tak Jae Hoon. Roo'ra originally crashed and burned due to Shin Jung Hwan leaving for military service. Maybe he could have gone back to Roo'ra when it re-formed, but I'm glad he didn't. Country Kko Kko is one of the most oddball, most original groups in the world of k-pop, and I hope they keep creating music. I'll admit, you can still find the duo's last Christmas album on my CD player every now and again. Happy Christmas [RealAudio] remains my favorite faux-Elvis song, and even if it's out of season, I just have to hear it every now and again. You can also find me listening to Family Christmas [RealAudio]. Most of my friends don't speak Korean, so they'll never know I'm listening to carols in August. The big news is that Country Kko Kko just released their fourth CD, High Society. I, for one, am excited about that. I can say that High Society isn't a SM Entertainment knock-off. The second track on the album, Uhihae [RealAudio] has a funky, western sound with a good beat. And Saeyahbyul [RealAudio] should have you grooving to some classic sounds on the harmonica. So, while we can be sad that Roo'ra is giving up again, we should be happy that Country Kko Kko is resisting the temptation to produce a generic sound for big profit. CKK takes a lot of grief for not being the equivalent of a Korean boy band. K-pop has been so dominated by H.O.T. wannabes that something as fresh as Country Kko Kko should be received with praise, not criticism over their dance style. Let's face it, pop is pop, and it will never be the deepest music in the world. However, that doesn't mean that everything has to sound the same, look the same, or be the same.
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