WHIZZ - Hong Kong Indie Band on the Rise

 



WHIZZ is a four-piece indie band from Hong Kong that has some very musically active members - make sure to check out their social media and solo project pages linked below. As of today, WHIZZ as a band has released two albums since 2021, and the band appears to be pretty active given the handful of singles they've released this year as well as the live performance videos they've been posting on YouTube and Instagram. 

My personal favorite of the two albums is the album  '之所以我们都在水底里歇斯' from  2021, which I've seen translated as 'Deep Blue Hysteria.' This album is filled with breezy, indie-rock(ish?), catchy tunes that, while being pop-oriented, also emphasize the instruments being played (mainly electric guitar, bass, and drums). I struggle a bit with how to categorize the genre, but the band has described themselves as "Groovy Pop." 

The electric guitars are mostly clean-ish, but do get a bit crunchy/gritty at times, playing out tasteful chords and simple, catchy lead melodies. The drums are on the softer side, the basslines are indeed groovy, and YuShan Wong's vocals float effortlessly over all of this, as she sings in English on all of the songs except the title track finale.

'Deep Blue Hysteria' is only 31 minutes long, and some of the tracks are instrumental 'music tracks' leaving only 6 songs with vocals on the whole album. I like this though, as it makes each song feel unique without getting repetitive. My favorite track on the album, and my favorite WHIZZ song overall, is 'Sorrowful,' which really pulls you into it's reflective vibe emotionally and musically. 

As I mentioned above, it's also worth checking out the solo projects by each member of WHIZZ, which I have listed down below. At the end of 2023 the band posted about '4's Apart' which was a solo project where each member released a song.  


This video of WHIZZ performing a few songs including 'Reality' and 'Summer' on 3Tracks Live really shows off their skill on their instruments as well as their songwriting:


Band Members and Side Projects

Vocals/Guitar: YuShan Wong

Other Projects:

  • YuShan Wong (solo project)
YouTube (Check out her covers and Lofi beats)


Lead Guitar: Moo

Other Projects:

  • Moo! (solo project)
YouTube (Check out her guitar playthroughs and Moo! songs)

Bass: Bowie Ling

Other Projects:

  •  Bowie Ling (solo project)

Instagram

YouTube (Check out her loop covers)

Drums: Jess Leung

Other Projects:

  • lwl. (solo project)
YouTube (Check out her kpop drum covers)
Soundcloud (some original songs not on Spotify and a WHIZZ demo)


WHIZZ Band Social Media: 



Random Recs for WHIZZ Fans:

Sobs - Air Guitar: Spotify Link

DASUTT - Ya, Ya: Spotify Link






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PHOON - The Hong Kong Band's 2019 EP is an Indie Rock Hidden Gem

Image
              PHOON - Phoon (EP) I first discovered PHOON on Youtube, through their song "You!", which was the only song they had released at the time. I was immediately drawn in by the catchy vocal melodies and the interplay between the electric guitar and keyboard. I listened to their first (and as of yet, only) EP as soon as it was released in 2019, and it has been frequently in my rotation ever since. PHOON is, or was, a four member band from Hong Kong, that seems to be inactive according to a recent comment from vocalist Lili Forest on his Instagram post about how the song "You!" hit 1 million streams on Spotify. His comment from September 2023 reads: "we are basically disbanded now hahaha lets see how things go in the future" so I guess there is a sliver of hope that they may reunite, but in all likelihood, this EP will continue to be the only release from PHOON. Lili Forest has released a few solo songs under that name though, which are wor...
Read more

Coral Zero - Windwalker EP: An Instrumental Daydream

Image
  Coral Zero is the solo instrumental project from Lauren Chang, or oh_lorn on Instagram and TikTok. TikTok is where I first came across Lauren's music, where she posts mostly melodic and tranquil math-rock inspired riffs. Her guitar playing is excellent and the snippets shared on TikTok and Instagram always had me hoping for a full release, so I was excited to hear that she released her first EP 'Windwalker' under the name Coral Zero a few weeks ago. 'Windwalker' is a short EP - coming in at less than 10 minutes long, it feels like a quick breath of fresh air. The title could not be more fitting either, as each note feels like it's bouncing on the wind. Genre-wise, this would probably be classified as math-rock, and although math-rock style guitar is at it's foundation, there is a lot more electronic production and a lot less 'rock' than in most other music of the genre.  In oh_lorn's oldest TikTok post, she wrote that her goal is to "make ...
Read more

Broken Head - Sungazer EP: Massachusetts Alternative-Rock with a Tinge of 90's Shoegaze

Image
Broken Head is a Massachusetts based alternative-rock band that has released two EPs and a couple of singles since 2020. The blurb on their record label's website lists 90's shoegaze bands Catherine Wheel and Swervedriver as major influences, which can definitely be heard especially when listening to everything that was released after the Sungazer EP. Having never really listened to either of those bands, my first reaction when hearing Broken Head's first single 'Rinse' was that it reminded me a little of Balance and Composure.  Founding members and dual vocalists Rob Hooper and Alessio Tranchell both come from the punk scene (hardcore and pop-punk respectively), and while Sungazer stylistically fits much more into alternative-rock, there are elements, especially in the vocals, that are reminiscent of punk at times.  I chose to write about Sungazer specifically even though it is their first EP because it is my favorite Broken Head release so far. Everything released...
Read more