You know that sour taste you get when your favourite band overstays its welcome? Like when those monster acts leech off their once-glorious popularity like parasites, sucking out all the tours, money and aimless albums they can? While this sad situation doesn’t happen so much with Hong Kong bands, it hints at another problem: the lack of longevity for acts in the SAR. It’s not uncommon to find your favourite local band fading away in just a couple of years.

But King Ly Chee is a bit of an anomaly. They’ve been active for more than a decade, widely credited as being the torchbearers for hardcore music in Hong Kong. And, having been in the thick of it for so long, they’ve got a lot of views on the state of band culture in the city. “There is no system in place here in terms of an understanding of how to nurture and support artists,” says longtime frontman Riz Farooqi. “To the extent that the government doesn’t make supporting the arts a priority in society, the rest of the population won’t think of it as an important element of life. Had we only focused on Hong Kong for the past 12 years, I think I would’ve most definitely burnt myself out by now.”

Outspoken comments like those have been synonymous with both the King Ly Chee legacy and what the band continues to stand for: forthright, in your face, political, heart-on-sleeve hardcore. Their third album, Time Will Prove, to be released in late January, acts as further testimony to this continued perseverance.

“For a band like us, who have been around for so many years and are still playing the music we do and living the life that we do – time has proven,” says Farooqi. “Where people move on to other types of music as their tastes change or the dreaded ‘I’ve grown out of it’ bullshit, we’re still here. That’s what the album is about… time proves who is in it for the right reasons and who is in it because it’s what’s ‘hot’ right now.”

Time Will Prove will also delight King Ly Chee’s cult following, who have waited a long time for their follow-up to the band’s only previous LP, 2003’s Stand Strong. “We didn’t realise it would take this long to put out a new record. But the main issue is with the constant line-up changes,” says Farooqi. The current line-up of KLC was solidified around 2009, comprising two members from Macau and the rest from Hong Kong. The wait, however, has produced the band’s most ambitious outing yet: not only is Time Will Prove a huge double-album, but it also sees Farooqi singing in both Putonghua and English.

“That’s me singing all the Mandarin on the Chinese album,” says Farooqi. “Like I said, we’ve always been a band that looks to how we can grow outside of Hong Kong. With this album, we’re sure that’s going to happen… we want to hit the road and play everywhere! Try to see what we can offer the world as we represent Hong Kong!” With that sort of passion, it’s safe to say that the band won’t be slowing down any time soon. Like there was ever any doubt…

Edwin Lo 

King Ly Chee play Hang Out on Saturday January 28. Tickets from www.rockmotel.net.