My Top 2000 Songs #1158: But I Like You

South Korean indie pop band Say Sue Me (a play on singer Sumi Choi) are one of my absolute favorite bands of the past decade. They're part of a noble line of bands who blend post-Jesus & Mary Chain shoegaze fuzz with 60s girl group pop, from The Primitives to The Raveonettes; in Say Sue Me's case, it's more subdued, gentle pop that's equal parts jangle & buzz but invariably quietly insinuating.

"But I Like You," off 2018's Where We Were Together, is about as perfect a pop song as one can imagine, a straightforward three-chord cut that blends chiming guitars with Choi's gentle croon, carefully restrained but finally cutting loose, just a bit, in the chorus. The lyrics aren't always easy to make out, but those that slink through suggest Jonathan Richman's wide-eyed innocence. It's the sort of song you would imagine lighting up the radio in a normal universe.

Live 2019:

Live in studio 2017: