C-Pop Artist Of The Week (June 2 – June 7) – Fire EX.

Official Site | Facebook | Band’s Twitter | JC’s Twitter | Orio’s Twitter | Sam’s Twitter

Members:
Vocalist/Guitar: Sam
Guitar: Orio
Bass: JC
Drummer: Wu Ti

滅火器(a.k.a “FIRE EX.” in English) is a Taiwanese indie punk band formed in 2001. The original members are high-school classmates, but in 2007, only the original vocalist and guitarist are still official members. In June 2007, they released their 1st album “Let’s Go!” and went on a Taiwan tour. They have released three albums to date and their song “Island’s Sunrise” is nominated for Song Of The Year at this year’s Golden Melody Awards.

Featured Songs

晚安台灣 Good night! Formosa!

夏天結束以前 Before The End Of Summer

頂樓天光 Sunrise On The Rooftop

And here is the song that is nominated for Song Of The Year:

島嶼天光 Island’s Sunrise

Other Songs

自由路 Freedom
Back To The World
欲走無路 Going Nowhere
天鳥 Free Bird
憂愁戀歌 Supernova Lover
海上的人 A Man On The Sea
黃昏公路 Dusk freeway
同學會 After These Years
日子 Days
舊照片 Old Picture

Wrapup

A day late because I was sick (and still am), but this week continues my goal of featuring the artists that are nominated for awards at this year’s Golden Melody Awards. This week is for Fire Ex. who are nominated for Song Of The Year.

I have heard of these guys but I never listened to them before this. Unlike most of the indie bands that I have recommended and featured, Fire Ex. is not about mellow, dreamy rock with soft vocals. They have a much heavier rock sound than bands like Frandé or Hello Nico. I have only come across a few bands that did harder rock like this that wasn’t metal in Cpop. Most of their songs are like this but there are a few softer songs, and also one ska punk song for some reason. I think you can listen to a few songs and know pretty quickly if you like them or not.

I don’t think they are amazing but they have some good songs. Their songs can get a little boring and repetitive though. I think it’s because the guitar playing isn’t that interesting most of the time. I’m used to more electric and/or experimental type of rock with guitars that make the instrumental breaks just as enjoyable, if not more than, the singing parts. For Fire Ex. songs, the guitars are kind of just there for me. Some songs do a better job at this though i.e their slower songs because they are less noisy and more focus on each instrument is required. Island’s Sunrise is a good example of this.

Island’s Sunrise is a good song but I question whether it deserves to be nominated for Song Of The Year. I guess it depends on if songs are nominated based off the quality of the song or the impact it made. I don’t think the song itself is good enough for the award. But it seems to have been associated with a student protest of some kind in Taiwan. So is that the reason why? Because of its impact and importance? I’ve had this discussion with people on the forum before and which is it that determines the awards. It’s most likely some of both but I am a believer of the song itself being the only thing that is important and everything else is irrelevant. Maybe the judges do genuinely believe the song is one of the best of last year but the message and protest makes me wonder.

I did enjoy what I heard overall. There’s still one album left that I didn’t listen to and I will probably give it a go on my own time later.

Sources: Wikipedia, Last.fm, Facebook, Netease, Books.com.tw (2)