182. THE LAST THING LEFT by Say Sue Me

I only just heard about this South Korean band last week when reading something about the anticipation of their upcoming 2022 record, now officially released. Well, we've not quite reached mid-year but I have a feeling this may end up on my year end list of favorite 2022 albums. My antennae were raised when I read the term "shoegaze" in a description of the band. Perhaps their previous albums were more shoegazey than this one. I'd describe the new record as more in the vein of indie rock/pop and/or surf rock.

Lead singer Sumi Choi sings in English on all tracks but one - and that single Korean-language song, 'To Dream,' is the standout in my mind. The combination of not understanding the language coupled with Choi's voice and the repeating jangle guitar motif makes me want to listen on repeat, again and again (redundant, I know). So I would definitely start there. As usual, I'm drawn to the slower, melancholic tracks, so keep that in mind when listening to 'Still Here' and 'Now I Say.'  A couple of upbeat songs I like are 'We Look Alike' and 'The Last Thing Left' (an ode to their original drummer who died in 2019).