Vietnamese Rock: COCC + Proportions + Mimetals

Sat 13 Sep 2014, 8 pm
Hanoi Rock City

From The Onion Cellar:

The Onion Cellar proudly presents:

COCC (first ever Hanoi show)
PROPORTIONS (first ever show)
MIMETALS

First ever Hanoi appearances of both these bands: COCC and PROPORTIONS, 2 of the Vietnamese rockbands who truly do not shy away from experimentations and pushing superficial boundaries of genres and styles

As with all the other line-ups curated by The Onion Cellar, though their music may not appear similar, the masterful combination of ‘violence’ and ‘melodies’ that both bands pursue (and manage to achieve) is sure to bring about a perfect gathering suited to lovers of all kinds of (heavy) music

And for those looking to find out more about contemporary Vietnamese rock music – YOU SIMPLY MUST BE THERE.

COCC (HCM City / psychedelic alternative rock etc)

COCC is a Saigon-based indie/psych-rock trio whose debut album “6 Giờ” (2011) deserves much much more recognition beyond the underground acclaim and their cult status. Here is what they have to say about themselves:

Phuc started a band with his friends to play cover tunes from Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Beatles, and whatever they can do to satisfy his thirst for Rock ‘n’ Roll. Called themselves “Hero in Danger”, how arrogant? Everyone (except for Phuc) left to better greener grass, Phuc got pissed and wrote a bunch of original songs. Cuong and Quoc somehow walked into a wrong meeting and got ‘con’ into the band playing bass and drum for Phuc. They got pissed and called the band ‘COCC’, how appropriate? Anyway, with no money, they decided to record their songs with a laptop and used the toilet as a recording studio. >>

At times mellow, more often than not bursting with unadulterated rage, but always, always sincere and unmistakably and proudly Vietnamese – from the field recordings of the streets of Saigon on Giao Thông (an angry ode to Vietnamese traffic featuring screams that come straight from hell) to Phuc’s singing in a pure heavy Southern accent (neglected by most if not all professional Vietnamese singers who happen to come from those parts – why?) to the subject matters of their songs which deal almost exclusively with the low-lives often overlooked in modern society (kid beggars, cyclo-drivers, abandoned children etc), one feels as if this music was born out of a Saigon underground last depicted in Trần Anh Hùng’s Cyclo: dark and chaotic and yet ultimately humane.

COCC is our personal favourite Vietnamese rock band. Always.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/-BwqyJhrRfM[/youtube]

PROPORTIONS (Hanoi / melodic hardcore, post-rock, screamo etc)

Something of a HanoiCore-supergroup that doesn’t seem to care much for visibility (none of the personnel involved has so far been publicly revealed, no bandphoto existing) – but currently making waves all the same for their exciting and super appealing sonic identity, PROPORTIONS began as a studio side-project of two of the community’s most active figures, who between them have been over the years rocking out with Nuranium, Epione, Alive in Sight, Augustory – all indications that something in the vein of this new project was always bound to happen. A natural step forward.

And thus PROPORTIONS benefits from some of this duo’s strongest work to date, some of their most heartfelt vocals, epic tremolo pickings, melodic harmonic riffs, wide-screened lyrics, contrasting loud-quiet dynamics: everything filtered through the finest layer of post-rock textures ever committed to recording in this country.

In fact, trivial categorisations and blatant name-dropping aside (forgive us), those who cannot get enough of the intense (and at times violent) beauty of pre-Shelter Alcest, contemporary screamo and post-hardcore as well as 90s American emo and the likes, will find a lot to enjoy on the band’s self-produced-and-released debut EP Shadows, one that surprisingly, almost instantly won them considerable international support.

For their first ever live appearance, PROPORTIONS are a 5-piece line-up including key members Quang Nguyễn (guitar) and Trung Tôn (vocals), plus their friends from Epione, Alive in Sight and Morning Waits, though you better believe that the whole will indeed be much greater than the sum of its parts.

Listen to Proportions music. You can purchase Proportions’ Shadow at

Hanoi Grapevine Shop.

MIMETALS (Hanoi/ dream-rock)

Opening the night’s proceedings will be the dream-rock purveyors of MIMETALS, in only their third comeback performance (after 2 sold-out indieGO! nights with Ngọt and Bluemato) following a year-long hiatus. With a brand-new line-up comes a new glorious sound, catchier and more emotionally-charged than ever before: dreamy crescendos, crystalline guitars, soaring keys, powerful female vocals, and (inevitably) audience sing-alongs (!)

[youtube]http://youtu.be/b0CEjr1U_X8[/youtube]

TICKETS:

40,000 VND : Early Bird tickets, limited to 25, available from Hầm Hành (170 Đội Cấn) from 15.00 – 10 Aug
80,000 VND : Advance tickets, available from Hầm Hành once the 25 Early Bird tickets sell out, and available until 11 Sept
120,000 VND : door tickets

Special offer from The Onion Cellar HERE

For more updates about the show, join the official event page.

Hanoi Rock City 27/52 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho