baan - neumann

Busan's baan crank up the distortion dials and take the form of congealed honey on their latest album neumann. You could make an educated guess that the album is named after the manufacturer of audio equipment, Neumann. 

South Korea has been home to some of the most life-affirming acts in recent noisy times: Parannoul, Asian Glow - of whom appears on the final track of the album - and now, baan. There are of course more, but this feels like the trifecta to me. An ode to fuzz and a homage to the world of cacophonous metal, neumann casts a wide net over sonic spheres: Metal, Post-Hardcore, Screamo, Noise Rock. This coming together of genre tags should have your aural tastebuds tingling. With catharsis awaiting at every corner, neumann is nothing short of an hour-long sonic release, in its purest form. 

Reminiscent of Boris, especially their 2000 project Flood, baan aren't afraid of wearing their influences on their sleeve. Electric Wizard shows up in the levels of dynamic production and width - sounds as heavy as stacks of cinderblocks push airwaves out to squeeze your brain. The producer did an incredible job of capturing the power and velocity of baan - in the wrong hands it can get lost in translation. As fuzzy and distorted as neumann indeed is, it's also crisp and clear. Like swimming through a tank of the gnarliest, grizzliest fat, neumann revels in atmospheric, fuzzy sludge - the fuzz has fuzz; the sludge has sludge; the riffs have riffs. Ripples of riffs fall like dominoes, one into the next, and so on. They healthily tag onto their next ebb and move live a waterfall in full flow. 

baan's Bandcamp reads with regards to neumann: 

"Our hearts belong to damn loud amps, greyscale DIY emo history, our cramped rooms and bursting dreams."

AND, with regards to the band:

"This is...

Doom but not boring

Screamo but not crying

Hardcore but not macho

Shoegaze but not sucks."

neumann doesn't reinvent the wheel, but certainly bolsters said wheel. It's a net positive to the world of music - baan are a credit to their cause. The noise that you will find in abundance on neumann is well-crafted, and most importantly, well-intentioned. It's been a while since I listened to something for the first time and it immediately felt like a home-run. These are rare occurrences, especially as you get further and further, and deeper and deeper, into the cosmic-sonic-soup - although, at moments like this, you have to remind yourself you're only ever at the beginning. But baan managed to get straight to the point with neumann. Through the simultaneously crushing and uplifting haze lies a band with the ability to make immediate music while their integrity remains intact. Once again, this is a rare occurrence. Especially as it gets better with further, deeper listens - usually, immediacy falls apart on further inspection. 

The Gods of fuzz look down from above with a wide grin on their faces.