Album Review: Revolving Doors by …Whatever That Means

We first featured …Whatever That Means back in 2016 after they released a fantastic split with Burn Burn Burn. Now, after four long years, the band have released their third full length album – Revolving Doors. The Seoul, South Korea based three piece play melodic pop punk music and are one of the hardest working bands in Asia. Over the years they’ve played shows with Strike Anywhere, FCFive, The One Thought Moment and NoOpinion. When I saw that Revolving Doors had been released, I was super keen to revisit a band I enjoyed so much four years ago.

The album begins with its title track, Revolving Doors. The song is just fifty three seconds long but is really memorable due to its catchy lyrics. The song is about feeling as if you’re stuck in a cycle and constantly having to start again. Perhaps this a nod to the length of time between releases. Next up is Prisoner 503 (The President). The track begins with a Korean language audio clip which features some guitar tone being faded in before the vocals come in. Whereas Revolving Doors was quite a poppy track, Prisoner 503 feels like a 90s skate punk favourite that’s been freshened up. The track is about two sides of the political landscape coming together when they know that things aren’t right and need a change. The gang vocals shouts of “who are you working for?!” work really well as a tool to combine a crowd and I imagine this is quite powerful in a live setting. Up next is Can’t Be Wrong. What I really enjoyed about this track is that this is the first time on the album that the band showcase their male and female lead vocals combined. Both singers take a verse each at the beginning before harmonising for one another on the chorus. Can’t Be Wrong is just over a minute long and is packed with energy. There’s a definite feel of early Bad Religion on the song and you can’t go wrong with that.

The fourth track is The Inside and again shows off the pop side of …Whatever That Means’ sound. This song starts out feeling like a great anthem for living life to the fullest and living it your own way but as it progresses it takes a bit of a darker turn, as the singer speaks about how hard it can be mentally trying to put on a front about how good your life seems. This song is probably relevant to so many people. We all want to seem as if we’re living our best lives but many of us to struggle to keep up the facade and we shouldn’t feel pressured to do so. I Need To Know is a Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers cover. It has a rock ’n’ roll edge to it that helps it stand apart from many of the other tracks on the album. ...Whatever That Means breathe new life into the song by upping the tempo of the track and giving it a bit more bite. The song is about the falling apart of a relationship, whether it’s professionally or in your private life, and feeling as if you’ve been left in a state of limbo, not knowing what is going on and where you stand. This is a horrible and frustrating feeling and is definitely another song I find relatable. The sixth song is 68, 22 and is an acoustic track. I was a little surprised to find an acoustic track at this stage of Revolving Doors but it really stands out because of its placement in the album. This is a campfire punk rock sing-along that’s an ode to the places that punks call a home, the places where we feel accepted and where we get our educations. This song really got me emotionally as we’re currently living in a time where I can’t go to my punk rock home. Beautiful song.

Next up is the song Red Flags which features JaeHyun of The Kitsches. Red Flags gives the album and injection of energy and aggression that is really quite striking. The song is about the stress that exams can put on young people and the mental anguish it can cause. This is without a doubt one of the hardest hitting songs on Revolving Doors and JaeHyun’s screams add so much intensity to the track. Save The Union keeps the energy high with another fresh take on the classic skate punk sound. This song again utilises the male and female vocalists that really helps ...Whatever That Means stand out amongst their contemporaries in the genre. I can’t think of any skate punk bands that feature male and female lead vocalists – if you know more please let me know. When the song began I instantly thought of Pennywise with the heavier side of skate punk, except Pennywise haven’t released anything this good for years. The vocals from the verses come out at breakneck speed leaving you amped for a massive sing-along chorus. The song itself is about coming to a crossroads in a relationship where things aren’t as good as they once were and trying to work out in what direction things should go. The penultimate track, So Much To Say, wastes no time in getting started with the vocals jumping right out of the gate. Once again, the band take inspiration from 90s skate punk for a track that I imagine would have appeared in loads of skateboard films if it was written twenty five years ago. The album is completed by I Can’t Take It (The Totally Bummed Out Drew Smith Version). For those unaware Drew Smith is a former member of Burn Burn Burn and the owner of the awesome Tiny Dragon Music. This is the second acoustic track on the album. Rather than being another uplifting song like 68, 22, this is a sadder track about being stuck in a rut, hating your life and struggling to get out of bed. There’s a sadness in the vocals but also a frustration and anger that really gives the song an interesting sound that will really rouse the listener. This is obviously something a lot of people will relate to so I imagine there will be a massive feeling of catharsis amongst the listeners of this song, especially if they get to hear it live.

What a fantastic album Revolving Doors is! I would assume that there aren’t many (if any) readers of CPRW who are checking out the South Korean punk rock scene. If all the bands are anywhere near as good as …Whatever That Means then we definitely should be.

Stream and download Revolving Doors on Bandcamp here.

Like …Whatever That Means on Facebook here.

This review was written by Colin Clark.