On their latest mini-album Anything is Fine, released in April, Seoul-based rock band Pop Ents deliver a catchy title track whose upbeat surface conceals a sharper message. Guitarist-vocalist and lead songwriter David Palmer confirmed to The Korea Times that the title is deliberately ironic.

"The music industry is worse than ever. Everyone successful is a plant. Everything is a scam. Audiences are less engaged than ever with artists because of the insanity of the attention economy," Palmer said. "So as a local Seoul band that writes and plays with close friends in the audience in mind, it's just a discussion about how terrible the music industry is and how we'd love to be a part of it but if not we never wanted to anyway."

The song finds a striking counterpoint in another standout track, "Mogi Saeki" — a title combining the Korean word for mosquito (mogi) with a profanity (saeki). Palmer explained that the song was written while he was living on the second floor of a villa where, if the windows were not closed perfectly, seven or eight mosquitoes would appear in a single night.

"I sincerely hate mosquitoes," he said, before offering a deeper layer of meaning. The song was written during the attempted Yoon Suk Yeol coup of December 2024, a period that profoundly affected Palmer. On December 3, 2024, then-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law in a late-night television address, deploying troops to the National Assembly before lawmakers voted unanimously to overturn the decree within hours. The crisis triggered weeks of mass protests across Seoul and ultimately led to Yoon's impeachment.

"I was moved by my friends who joined the protests. I am inspired by the musicians I meet here in Korea all the time. I just remember feeling so angry that this alcoholic clown almost ended such a hard-earned democracy. It would have uprooted my life. I felt like there was a person on the TV suddenly invading my life. The metaphor that came was a blood-sucking mosquito."

Ultimately, the song channels the catharsis of hatred. "I wanted to write something political, but that gets boring and trite really fast, especially when I'm an outsider to it all, so I focused on the feeling of hatred," Palmer said. "I had fun writing it and people seem to be responding to it. It's very, very nice to sing 'I will never forgive you' over and over for me personally."

Palmer wrote the lyrics in Korean with assistance from a Korean literature teacher, with final adjustments by his bandmate Joon, who serves as lead vocalist on the track. "In general, I like to write songs for other people to sing," Palmer said. "Joon has a great voice and is a bit lower register than me, and he can handle Korean lyrics a lot more easily than I can, even if I write them. We're working on some songs now where I give him the lead. I prefer his voice to mine most of the time!"

Pop Ents has undergone significant lineup changes over the years, with both foreign and Korean members departing and joining. The band's mixed membership reflects the cross-cultural fabric of Seoul's indie music community, where foreign and Korean musicians frequently collaborate, particularly in neighborhoods near Itaewon and Hongdae that have long served as hubs for the city's underground scene. The most consequential shift came when founding member John Engle, who wrote many of the band's earlier songs, returned to the United States in 2024.

"I guess I'm the last original plank of Theseus' ship here, but none of us needs to take it that seriously, do we?" Palmer remarked. "I wouldn't say 'I AM POP ENTS,' but I do carry on the concept — musicians coming together and making something that puts the process ahead of the concept."

Following Engle's departure, Palmer assumed full songwriting responsibilities and now shares vocal duties with Joon. The transition has shifted the band's sound somewhat away from its soul and blues influences and closer to punk.

"In all honesty there's a lot of things I've neglected doing — syncing the lyrics, collaborating on new zines and music videos. Without John here, it's a lot harder to get these projects started and finished," Palmer acknowledged. "Still, I really like how the songs came out personally — I'm not always happy with the musical result, but with this group and these recordings, the vision came through. The hard part is getting some attention on them, which is what every band struggles with in this era."

Palmer said the band continues to work on new material, with additional recordings already completed and expected to be released soon. He also articulated a deliberate shift in creative focus.

"This might be a losing direction, but these days I'm really interested in playing and writing with our local community in mind," he said. "I'm trying to forget about the internet and the trends in music and focus on real people that I can see out and about. If we could make our shows truly unique and engaging for the ones who love music enough to actually come to a show, that would be a lot more meaningful than making a viral clip. I'm still figuring all of that out but for now I'm certain that I want to do something more personal than before and perhaps take some bigger risks."

Despite any perceived negativity in his commentary on the industry, Palmer described himself as content with life and optimistic about the future. He enjoys his day job, and his wife recently gave birth to their second child. He emphasized, however, that the band remains an indispensable part of his life.

"I am a very busy person, and sometimes it feels like I'm drowning, but I can't NOT do Pop Ents," he said. "I'll wither and die if I don't get to write and perform these songs. I know because I have had long stretches with no band before, and I truly start to implode mentally. My wife knows this, and that's a big reason why she is very graceful about letting me go out and play in a small room full of people across the city."

Pop Ents is confirmed to perform at this year's Block Party, a multi-venue festival held in central Seoul's multicultural Haebangchon and Gyeongnidan neighborhoods. The two adjacent districts, nestled near Namsan mountain just south of the city center, have long been home to a dense concentration of independent venues, bars, and creative spaces that cater to both expatriate and Korean communities. Now in its fifth year, the festival has featured Pop Ents on every edition.

"We will be at Block Party! It is a 100 percent sure thing," Palmer confirmed. "We have played every Block Party. God willing, we will play every Block Party ever. And this will be our best ever performance, and everything else you see that day will leave you feeling empty after you've seen our set, which will be the platonic ideal of a Block Party band set forevermore. I hope to pull together some collaborators to do something very special this year."

More information and links to listen to Anything is Fine are available at linktr.ee/popents.