It’s time for the original k-pop nugu series to return, the one that started it all – that’s right it’s Kpopalypse Nugu Alert! Let’s take a look at some more nugus!
It seems that in 2026, the amount of rock influence in the k-pops is gradually decreasing. This is to be expected as all musical trends move in cycles, and your favourite thing that is out of fashion now will be back in style one day, likewise whatever is trendy bullshit now will be tomorrow’s nostalgia. However as I would personally prefer a more rocking kpoposphere, this edition of Kpopalypse Nugu Alert is all about rock bands just to satisfy my own selfish desires, even though the trend is waning. Just making sure we understand each other as I give you this very self-indulgent Nugu Alert, not that it matters because nobody reads these posts anyway let alone my preamble things. I could write anything here and nobody would know. I hope the lump on my penis right next to the vein goes away soon.
Usual Kpopalypse Nugu Alert rules apply, artists must meet the following criteria:
Let’s take a look!
Daylotus have been in roundups before but it’s worth putting them in Nugu Alert just because they’re unique enough, and nugu enough, to be noteworthy. K-pop has had a few stabs at something resembling Japan’s “Visual Kei” metal scene over the years, but they never quite get it right and to this day they still don’t have anything in that style that beats X Japan (although to be fair, neither does Japan). Daylotus are sort of halfway there with the heavy guitars and typically wayward j-metal vocals, but there’s also weird rapping here and saxophone samples for some reason which tilts the mood in a more traditionally k-pop direction. I’m also not sure about the choice to shoot this thing in a dingy basement, seems like the main singer put all that effort into styling his blue hair only for it to be partially undone by the lack of lighting, the standard-issue Nugu Alert coloured fluro tubes on the wall can only do so much. Still, just anything that’s even slightly in this direction is welcome as it’s rarer than it probably should be in Korea to get strongly Visual Kei influenced stuff so we’re grateful for the crumbs.
YouTube views at the time of writing: 14247
Notable attribute: bass player seemingly didn’t get the memo at band practice to “please dress up for the video shoot next week” and has come along just after checking out from his office job
Nugu Alert Rating: high
If you’re after “wall of noise” then Seaweed Mustache has got you covered. Their guitar-and-drums cacophony reminds me of 90s Swans in the intro-outro, Sonic Youth in the verses and some kind of slam metal thing in the chorus and I’m not sure if that’s really the most well thought-out combination but the parts are all fine in isolation so it’s no big deal. Point being, it’s all heavy as shit and perfect for checking your stereo’s frequency response, annoying your neighbours or clearing out that last stubborn bit of ear wax. The visuals, like the music, is a weird mish-mash of things that don’t really go together all that well but still look more or less okay on their own, and hey look at that extensive pedalboard they’re using, you gotta prioritise the money where it matters most.
YouTube views at the time of writing: 3363
Notable attribute: Behringer Super Fuzz pedal sighted at 4:03 shows they are budget conscious – Behringer pedals are amazing and will save anyone building a pedalboard tons of money, recommended
Nugu Alert Rating: very high
This group’s very dry overdriven guitar riffs with hard-hitting drums carving out a slow groove reminds me a lot of Rage Against The Machine, just paired with a more melodic vocal approach. If you liked that group but wished that they’d occasionally investigate actual singing instead of rapping and yelling a lot about some random left-wing talking point, then perhaps Seoul Busan Incheon is for you. I’m not a huge fan of the blues-based vocals here or even the guitar riffs actually, I miss the more experimental guitar work that gave RATM a musical edge over the rap-metal hybrids of their day, but it’s still pretty solid for what it is and I’ve definitely heard a lot worse in this style. It’s just a shame about some of the more ill-advised visuals, like the silly filters and the moment at 2:51 when the guitar player’s instrument flies out of his hands and transforms into AI slop, which come to think of it is a pretty good metaphor for the music scene as a whole lately.
YouTube views at the time of writing: 3129
Notable attribute: pinstriped suit on the singer is pretty snappy, maybe he’s worth a vote in the Objectification survey?
Nugu Alert Rating: very high
Speaking of AI slop, boy do we have a video here. Street Guns superimpose their own band footage over various AI-generated historical and other settings to create a video which is definitely very watchable just because wondering what stupid idea they’ll have next as a background scene will keep you engaged enough to sit through it all at least once. The song itself is actually some pretty cool 50s rockabilly-inspired stuff which features decent songwriting and some seriously good guitar work, I think I played it the most out of all the songs in this episode. Not sure if it’s really “the lucky song” though, at the time of writing the band are yet to even reach the “777” views that their poker machines suggest the song could achieve, but I guess that’s to be expected given the extreme non-trendiness of this sound currently. Rock on!
YouTube views at the time of writing: 720
Notable attribute: playing guitar in the maternity ward at 1:07 is definitely my favourite setting, but that girl needs some better lower back support
Nugu Alert Rating: extreme
That’s all for this episode of Kpopalypse Nugu Alert – the series will return soon!
