Spanish band Acid Snot dribbles down to Korea

Spanish tech melodic punk band Acid Snot / Courtesy of Mariona Batalla

The Spanish technical punk band Acid Snot is coming to Korea this week for a four-city cross-country tour. Starting on Aug. 15, it will play in Jeonju, followed by Gwangju, Seoul and Daejeon.

"We have been itching to hit this part of the world for ages, man," the band members told The Korea Times in a collaboratively written statement. "We've heard the scene in South Korea is lit, and huge shout out to Victim for hooking us up big time. Beyond hyped to see what unfolds!"

The weird name comes from Uri, its drummer, who picked the name out at age 16 when he started the band.

"There's no grand tale, no epic story — just an overload of Blink-182 on our iPods back then. Our teenage brains were marinated in pop-punk nonsense, and this is what we came up with," the band said. "We wish we had some epic saga about scarfing down Gochujang and bawling our eyes out over insanely spicy food, but nah, our memories are about as blank as our faces will be after that first bite of killer Korean heat!"

Once you get past the name, Acid Snot is self-described as a "tech melodic punk act...Fast yet bouncy, breakdowns and emo stuff."

With plenty of metal riffs and pop-punk metalcore drum beats, the band's sound blends melodic punk with various other sounds like djent, alternative rock, emo, metalcore, urban music/trap and electronica. All of these influences take their turns standing out in Acid Snot's songs, sort of like a Korean film that mixes genres in unexpected ways.

"Being pigeonholed by a genre can box in your creativity, but having no framework at all can leave you floundering in a sea of aimless noodling," the band said.

It's apparent that these guys are very good at their instruments, which makes them stand out in a sea of punk rock.

"I mean, punk rock isn't exactly known for its technical prowess. Anyone with a couple of years of instrument practice could kick off a punk band. But that's what makes it awesome — punk's all about the vibes, the attitude, and the raw passion, not virtuosity," the band said.

"Now, we're not here to start a punk rock superiority contest or claim our tunes are the next big thing. Nope, not playing that game. We just sprinkle in all this extra stuff that's not exactly part of the traditional punk rock recipe. We're just adding our own twist to the punk rock stew."

In live performances, the band members make use of music technology less commonly seen in punk shows, such as in-ear monitoring, click tracks and sequences.

The members of Acid Snot perform in 2023. Courtesy of Ángel González

"This is super common in any modern metal band, but something that many punk rock bands or pop punk bands have not yet explored. Maybe they prefer that raw, unpredictable, 'anything-could-go-wrong' vibe, or maybe they just reject technology like it's a demonic possession," the band said. "But hey, we're all about it. It helps us nail our sound and keep our jams locked tight, from guitars to vocal harmonies."

Coming from Catalonia, Acid Snot's politically charged lyrics shouldn't surprise anyone. One example of their strong politics is "Rise," released in February this year, which contains lyrics attacking colonialism and xenophobia.

"This song is an antifascist, anti-imperialist anthem," the band explained. "Everything is political, from the media we consume to the phones we use, the way we speak, how streets are designed or the food we eat. Therefore, everyone acts politically, in a conscious or unconscious way. We just happen to articulate it more explicitly. Or at least we try to."

The band is open about its political ideology: "Even though it is almost impossible to escape from it, we are anti-capitalist at heart," the band said.

"Capitalism is a system that has brought so many inequalities globally, from wars to hunger to the ecocidal depletion of Earth's resources, all under the banner that 'there is no other option,'" the band said. But they were quick to add, "This doesn't mean we fully support authoritarian communism. As you might know, (in) South Korea, it is sometimes just the other side of the same coin: exploitation, resource extraction, and mass accumulation in the hands of a few. Having this mindset in Europe these days is, of course, synonymous with being against any right-wing politician, especially those who embrace neoliberalism, deny the ecological emergency, and are open to racism, sexism and discrimination in general, which usually ties back to the material conditions of the oppressed."

Curiously, the cover art for "Rise" bears a historic image of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing of Aug. 6, 1945.

The band explained, "The image was chosen somewhat randomly, but we wanted to underscore that any form of imperialism, which typically involves exploiting human and non-human resources and extracting materials, is a cancer on the sustainability of any civilization. We're often told we live in a hyper-rational system, but when you really examine it, the irrationality at its core is so extreme that it leaves us disoriented about how to think or act."

Acid Snot's members didn't hide their love for Japanese pop culture, and admitted that was a major motivation for touring to East Asia.

"That is one of the main reasons we wanted to come over to Japan, besides knowing many fellow bands that have done so," the band said. "However, once this was settled we thought, 'Yo, we are crossing the globe for a tour. Should we try to book some shows in South Korea?'"

After a week in Japan, Acid Snot will fly to Korea with the Japanese punk duo SpecialThanks.

The two members of Japanese punk duo SpecialThanks / Courtesy of SpecialThanks

They mentioned the band members have listened to some Korean metalcore bands such as End These Days and Messgram, but haven't delved any deeper.

"OK, so maybe we should've spilled the beans earlier, but we wanted that element of surprise when we roll in, you know? As we said, our game plan is to vibe hard, make memories with SpecialThanks, the top dawgs at Victim, and whoever shows up to vibe with us."

Acid Snot and SpecialThanks will start their tour this Thursday on National Liberation Day at Jeonju's Club GP, performing with Smoking Goose, Idiots, Noya and Blue Wagon. On Friday they're in Gwangju's Club Boojik with local skate punk band BettyAss. Saturday takes them to Seoul's Club Victim to play a show with Row Brothers, Twofive, Sink to Rise, Punk on Fire, The Sound, Smoking Goose, 18Fevers and Idiots. Acid Snot will part ways with SpecialThanks on Sunday for a final show at Daejeon's Greenbean Budgie Live House, sharing the stage with Smoking Goose, Punk on Fire and Blast.

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