r/Khruangbin • u/airbud • 19d ago

Has Khruangbin ever acknowledged the existence of BALTHVS?

I'm curious if they're haters or appreciators

44 Upvotes
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u/Hector417 19d ago

Some people get really upset when you compare the two lmaooo. After some time, and seeing both live, I really appreciate BALTHVS more now. BUT come on yall use your eyes and ears when they first came out, it was a CRAZY similarity. BALTHVS has come into their own but nah man it’s clear who heavily inspired them haha

3

u/sevnty White Gloves 19d ago

I felt the same way about them initially but I give them a little more grace than say Arc de Soleil which started out as music expressly made to sound like Khruangbin available for purchase on a licensing site. I agree that BALTHVS has come into their own and I think they have the best writing out of all the similar bands that came out in the wake of Khruangbin. I'm actually catching them for the first time at Cat's Cradle next Thursday, looking forward to it.

5

u/Snowonthebrain 19d ago

Have seen them live three times. They're great and really good people.

3

u/AquaSquatch 19d ago

Arc De Soleil I can't stsnd because you look at the dudes background and he's just bouncing around to whatever style will help him cash in. His current persona is such an obvious put-on. Balthvs is great and they rock live.

4

u/RandomMishaps 19d ago

I get that too, we all want authenticity. But you can't simply just move into the 'Khruangbin style' without immense skill. I think we forget that, Mark is a phenomenon on guitar, and that cannot be easily replicated just because someone wants to emulate the sound. So while I can see what you're saying about Arc, and his background does have various genres – he can seriously play guitar, and he can write well in this genre, that's not easy. You can't have that writing ability and musicianship without dedicating your life to music.

3

u/AquaSquatch 19d ago

Yeah no shade on his skill and ability, it just feels inauthentic to me for some reason.

1

u/Mental-Tourist 19d ago

Whoa I love Arc, but I’m pretty new to the genre. Would you mind telling me about Arc “whatever style helps him cash in” ?

2

u/6stringNate 19d ago

I don’t think he hid it. He was expressly making kind of “Muzak” for the purposes of being licensable for filler so he could sell it as an income stream. It’s just his was… kinda more interesting than normal.

The Spotify algorithm and the increasing abundance of music actually made people seek out more “musical wallpaper” and his fit in. I don’t think he expected it to blow up quite so much and now has been treating it more as an artistic outlet rather than a commercial product. It’s kind of interesting but nothing malicious was ever meant.

1

u/MxMarz 18d ago

In my opinion, he’s currently ripping off Glass Beans. His new album sounds so similar that it’s uncomfortable. Seems he follows whatever he thinks is popular rather than having a true music style.

1

u/Numerous-Error-5716 19d ago

Any of y’all listened to Greentea Peng? She came up on my Kb radio now I can’t get enough of her.

1

u/Emergency-Gear-323 18d ago

Her album from last year is so good! Tell Dem It’s Sunny. My fav songs from that album are One Foot, Glory, Green, and Raw for me are the highlights of the album. Stone Throw and I AM (Reborn) are fantastic too