Replay: Roller Coaster - Roller Coaster

Replay revisits music in my collection.

---

When I first heard the grooves of Roller Coaster's "Love Virus" on the soundtrack to Who Are You?, I instantly knew that I was hearing something completely different. At the time, the only disc that was in print was their magnificent "Absolute", I later managed to get a hold of a copy of their eponymous debut, which, although not as smooth as what would come later, immediately exposes the group as something special.

When a group can effectively avoid the process of applying genre labels to their sound, you already know that it's going to be interesting. Roller Coaster plays a sort of acid jazz, pop, electronica, and funk hybrid. Although, as they progressed, vocalist Cho Wonsun would eventually become the master songwriter of the group before going solo, earlier on, she shares some of these duties with her already accomplished groupmates, which include DJ Jinu on bass and computers and Lee Sangsoon on guitars and it's obvious because while Cho is the star of the group, the boys get opportunities to sing and write songs of their own for the trio.

The album actually opens with their big hit single from the effort, the upbeat and infectious funk-laced "내게로 와 (come closer)" and continues on a journey of sound, going from the fun "내손을 잡아줘" to the mellow "어디 있나요". Interspersed between the many single-worthy ear worm tracks are a few mellower, and often instrumental tracks, which wonderfully break the album.

I think the only weakness on this album that improves on future albums is that the production is a little too indie--music like this really benefits from shinier production. Cho is clearly something else when it comes to being a songstress in the Korean music scene, combining smoky vocals with a delicate understanding of fitting it into a groove and harnessing her unique timbre in the context of the group. Her groupmates are no slouches either, with Lee providing great amounts of cooled down funk and jazz on his guitar and DJ Jinu adding wickedly groovy basslines and lots of electronics from his other work. This album dropped a blueprint for the group that would provide great music for four more albums thereafter and, despite its more indie roots, it remains a great listen, even now, never sounding dated and catching listeners with its serendipitous blend of great sounds. 9/10.

Tracklist:

1. 내게로 와 (come closer)
   
2. 내손을 잡아줘
3. 회전목마
4. 어디있나요
5. 습관 (bye-bye)
   
6. 내가 배워둔 세상
7. 아슬아슬
8. 비오는 이른새벽 자장가 (instrumental)
9. just one more night
10. 참 잘했어요
11. the end (instrumental)

Links:

• Available at YesAsia