Say Sue Me is an indie rock band from Busan, South Korea, currently consisting of members Choi Su-mi, Kim Byung-gyu, Ha Jae-young, and Kim Chang-won. The group formed in 2012 and has released two full-length albums: We've Sobered Up and Where We Were Together ; and four extended plays: Big Summer Night, Semin, It's Just a Short Walk!, and Christmas, It's Not a Biggie. Say Sue Me won Best Modern Rock Album and Best Modern Rock Song at the 2019 Korean Music Awards.
History
Childhood friends Byung-kyu, Jae-young, and Se-min met Su-mi at a tea shop in the Nampo-dong neighborhood of Busan in 2012. The three liked Su-mi's speaking voice and immediately offered her a spot as the vocalist in their new band that would become Say Sue Me. Say Sue Me released their debut album, We've Sobered Up, in 2014, followed by their first EP, Big Summer Night, in 2015. The albums reached 64 and 79, respectively, on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart. In 2016, drummer Se-min fell into a semi-comatose state after rupturing his skull. Say Sue Me fans, as well as other indie bands from Busan, raised over 13 million won in one day to help pay for his medical bills. The band brought on new drummer Chang-won to temporarily replace Se-min and named their 2017 EP, the Record Store Day release, Semin, after the injured drummer. That year, the band also released a self-titled compilation album on UK record label Damnably. In 2018, Say Sue Me release their second album, Where We Were Together, followed a week later by the Record Store Day EP, It's Just a Short Walk!, which includes covers of songs by Blondie, the Ramones, the Velvet Underground, and the Beach Boys.' That year, the band performed at SXSW, marking their first performance in the United States, and toured the UK and Europe.' At the end of the year, the band released the holiday EP, Christmas, It's Not a Biggie. Say Sue Me was nominated for five awards at the 16thKorean Music Awards, including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. At the February 2019 awards ceremony, the band won Best Modern Rock Album for Where We Were Together and Best Modern Rock Song for "Old Town". The following month, the band performed again at SXSW. On October 12th 2019, the band announced that founding drummer Kang Se-Min had passed away.
Style
Say Sue Me's musical style has been described as surf rock or "surfgaze." The band has said that their surf rock sound was not intentional, but was likely influenced by their seaside hometown Busan and their practice room's proximity to the beach. Choi sings in both Korean and English, and has said that she finds it harder to sing in Korean because she feels more "exposed".
