Viva Soul - Youth On The Road
Rating: 7.3
Label: Warner Music Korea
Release Date: Feb. 22, 2005
Relevant Links: Buy it here.
When I first heard Viva Soul on Our Nation 5, I was incredibly impressed by the odd take on hip-hop they presented. When I learned that Viva Soul was in fact made up of members of 18 cruk (a disbanded Korean punk group), I both understood why the songs were so weird, and came to the conclusion I’d never see another Viva Soul release. How surprised was I the day I discovered this album at my local record shop.
One listen reveals how much Viva Soul’s sound has changed. While the Our Nation 5 songs were punk kids doing what they thought was hip-hop, the songs on Youth On The Road, are legitimate hip-hop. That being said, Viva Soul are still a far cry from being a “Throw your hands in the air and wave ‘em like ya just don’t care!” rap group. Live instruments are featured on the bulk of the tracks, and Latin rythms (samba, bossa nova, etc.) pepper the album.
The album’s first single, “Swing My Brother,” features jazzy, honky-tonk piano, a brass section, and the lads busting rhymes over Roaring Twenties grooves.
The album as a whole is a lot more laid back that their previous outing. This is most obvious on the track, “Music Picnic,” (which appears on both albums). The Our Nation 5 version was a frantic mass of sound, featuring a flute riff, that expounds upon the virtures of funk music, hamburgers, and beer. The version on this album, while still keeping the message that hamburgers, funk, beer, and rock music are good things, is a lot more subdued, it’s something you could groove along with during a summer time drive to a beach. The original version was something you’d be blasting at a house party, but that’s kind of how this album is. It’s good music for chilling out with your friends, but not raucous enough to get a party started.
