Author: kpopreviewed

Hi, my name is Tony and I am the man behind the site, kpopreviewed. Currently an university student who wants to introduce people to KPOP and if you are already into KPOP, different groups and bands.

[Review] FxxK It – Big Bang

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Big Bang has made their long awaited comeback with their latest album, M.A.D.E. The album consists of all the song released in 2015, such as Loser and Bae Bae (just to name a few), along with 3 new tracks. This is their final release as a 5-member group as T.O.P will be enlisting in the near future. This is the review for just FxxK It. A review for Last Dance was released earlier, which you can access by clicking here.

Compared to Last Dance, I don’t fancy this song as much. However, I still like it. There were a few things that did leave me a little bored with this song. The song fits the party setting quite nicely and has certain parts have a nice kick to it, giving the song a pumping feel. While the rest of the world continues to praise G-Dragon’s rap, I think of the opposite. I don’t have a problem with his rapping. It is just his part feel a little empty. I am a guy who enjoys listening to vocals more than rapping. But we all know how epic GD’s rapping can be (you would have to be in denial if that is the case). So I was a little disappointed. T.O.P’s fitted perfectly with the song.  However, Taeyang’s and Daesung’s part built up quite nicely to the chorus (and in my opinion, did the song a huge favour). The chorus was quite simple but still catchy, like all Big Bang’s choruses. Singing along to it every time it plays. Seungri was left with the bridge and he did an amazing job. My other disappointment with the song (as a whole) felt a little repetitive. It was more prominent here than other songs because I felt it most at my two favourite parts (Daesung and Taeyang’s). But besides all of that it is still a solid party song when you just want to go and have a good time.

Many people are comparing the music video to We Like 2 Party and I do agree with this. Just everything looks more planned out and staged. This music video gives a nice contrast to Last Dance and shows the more typical side to Big Bang that we are used to. Which is the crazy and fun side, like they made a disco into a club within seconds. Just moments before, they were peddling down a market on a 5 seater bike, with a bunch of shop keepers (mainly old folks) standing around awkwardly. Besides that, there really isn’t much to say. I am not disappointed with the video in any way. Everything matched the song and lyrics of the song.

Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] Last Dance – Big Bang

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Big Bang has made their long awaited comeback with their latest album, M.A.D.E. The album consists of all the song released in 2015, such as Loser and Bae Bae (just to name a few), along with 3 new tracks. This is their final release as a 5-member group as T.O.P will be enlisting in the near future. This is the review for just Last Dance. A review for FxxK It will be released very soon.

Despite being released in December, this song leaves a long last impression on you. First time listening to the song, I was blown away. And now it is a song that I am wanting to listen to every time I plug my headphones in. Big Bang has a few excellent ballads up their sleeve, but there is something a little extra with this one that makes it one of their best. I think it might be the circumstance (impending military enlistments) that the band finds themselves in, which gives the song a more emotional and powerful feel. The vocals in this song are superb. Every member takes part in the song vocally, ending with a small yet deep sounding rap sequence by T.O.P. I personally think this would have to be one of their best songs (vocally) ever. The song has a very nice, soft piano instrumental as well. It added to that emotional side that I mentioned earlier and also gave the song a nice swaying effect, which I love. To me, there are no flaws in the song. Nothing is missing, overdone or underwhelming. Everything feels just right with this track.

The music video is visually stunning. Per usual, YG Entertainment did their thing when it comes to music videos. The video fits the song perfectly. You will be surprised how smashing everything and giving the sets a post-apocalyptic feel goes hand in hand with most ballads from a YG point of view (Check out Love Song by Big Bang for reference). I love the cinematography in this video. Everything is shot on an angle and I think it gives a nice effect to the video. G-Dragon’s reunion with his girlfriend for that one last dance at the ending during T.O.P’s rap sequence is quite haunting. But still really something that adds to the video. Someone should just change Taeyang’s hair for crying out loud. I am not a big fan of dreadlocks (refer to any review with someone who has dreadlocks).

Rating – 10/10

Goodbye 2016, Welcome 2017

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What is that I hear in the distant? Fireworks, countdowns and people cheering?

2016 is finally coming to a close. Can you believe it that another year has gone past? It is crazy. Time has literally flown by so fast. 

2017 is fast approaching so I guess it is time to take out those New Years resolutions that we have packed away in the past year. 

I will be back very soon (which means reviews and charts galore). I just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for joining in with me for 2016. I promise you that 2017 is going to be an even bigger year.

In case you have not done the survey yet, please click here. I look forward to reading your responses and improving the site. 

And finally, it won’t be a new year until I start writing this in caps lock. But:

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOODBYE 2016 AND WELCOME TO 2017!!!!!!!!!!!

[Review] You Bad! Don’t Make Me Cry – Matilda

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for the end of November and December comebacks, they will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

This is going to be my final review of the year! And let’s end off with Matilda’s latest release, You Bad! Don’t Make Me Cry. Matilda is a 4-member girl group consisting of Sanbyeol, Haena, DanA and Semmi. You may recognise Haena as a former member of the now-disbanded rookie group Kiss&Cry. The group is currently under BOXMEDIA.  The group debuted in March with year with Macarena.

Another amazing song. On the outside and initial listens, it sounds quite messy. But the different parts do fall into place after listening to it for a number of times. The song has a feel different genres mashed into the song. It was strung together quite well. There are parts of reggae and EDM in the song. There were also smaller segments which I can’t seem to categorise into a genre. While the slowdown does work with the track, it ruined the intensity that the rest of the track had building up. Maybe if it was shorter or even completely omitted, the track could have gone for one more hit out the park, to make it a smashing song. The song also didn’t give the girls a chance to show off any vocal or rapping talent. The song was quite addictive, but I do imagine the song becoming a little annoying in the future. That’s just another prediction that I won’t know if it will happen or not.

The video was okay. Quite a low-budget and the editing, especially for the final chorus, was quite bad as well. Like when I am driving, I hate it when people put their high beam on during the day. In this video, the high beam was on for some of the parts. Luckily those segments were short. But besides that, everything else was okay. The only thing that should have been included somehow was something striking. It is a song that captures your attention, so something in the video should have been there to capture our attention as well.

Their performance isn’t really that interesting. I’ve only played their performance for the song, to be honest.

Rating – 6/10

[Review] Miro – Romeo

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for end of November and December comebacks will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

Romeo returned this year in June with their 3rd mini album. Both their mini-album and title track were titled as Miro. Romeo is a boy group that has been in the industry for nearly 2 years now. I did review them once before, at the end of the 2015 year, for their Target comeback.

Miro is probably my favourite song from Romeo thus far. It is honestly quite good. When I first listened to the song, I felt like it was very typical. It just didn’t seem to stand out. But I returned to the song a few weeks later and started falling for it. It was really catchy and an addictive track to listen to. The chorus, by far, was the best part of the song. The start of the song sounded weak and wasn’t up to par with the rest of the song. But when the song starts to build up, it was when the catchiness of the song started to kick in. And not once did the song stop to take a breather. It was fast paced and the tempo kept constant, which made the track work pretty well. The instrumental itself packed a punch on its own. My only issue with the track was with the vocals. But rather it wasn’t ‘what’s wrong with the vocals?’ but rather, ‘what’s missing?’. They were okay. It would have been nice to have a member belt out the chorus, particularly the end. It would have pushed the song to another level.

The music video stars Minho from SHINee, which did catch me off guard. Didn’t expect this appearance. But I think it did attract some attention, which is good thinking on the company’s part there. While I did like the choreography parts of the video, the rest seemed a little boring. Like they couldn’t get passed a gate, so they went to look for keys. When the keys were found, the gate opened and they were mysteriously transported to a chess board and Minho picks up the queen. I read somewhere that the video adopted an Alice in Wonderland. Minus the actual sets, I don’t really see an Alice in Wonderland concept. Overall, I guess it was an okay video.

The dance was pretty good. Also read somewhere that they were inspired by Maze Runner. Hmmm.. Alice in Wonderland and Maze Runner. Such an odd combination. Love how fast paced and fitting the dance is for the song. Their moves also look quite cool. They also sound amazing live.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] JJan! Koong! Kwang! – Momoland

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for end of November and December comebacks, they will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

Okay, so I have done a lot of reviews for boy groups lately. So why don’t I do some for girl groups? There are quite a few girl groups that made their debut towards the end of the year, so I have chosen to do Momoland. Momoland is a 7 member girl group who are currently under Duble Sidekick Company. The lineup includes Nancy, Hyebin, Nayoon, Ahin,  Yeonwoo, Jane and JooE.

This is such a cute song. Yeah, I know that this is a song that falls under the cutesy concept. But I tend to watch a lot of cutesy song with a straight face. But this one has me singing along. It is really catchy and addictive. Vocally, they may not be standing out. But I love the way the song was composed or produced. The ‘Jjan’ that starts off each chorus is like a mini explosion that occurs, which gets you into the mood. The rest of the chorus is pretty neat. The saxophone bridge and that chanting segment sounded amazing. Not a major fan of the start. The “Do you like it Momoland?” sounds awkward. The instrumental at the start sounds pretty slow as well, but the song starts to pick up at the chorus, which does save the song, in my opinion.

Unlike the song, the music video isn’t that  cute. The video reminds me of Laboum’s videos in the past. Not that I am saying Momoland copied Laboum. It just felt similar. I also don’t really understand what is happening in the few scenes where they are like sitting amongst trees and sleeping. I don’t have much else to say about the video. It works well with the song, but it doesn’t look cute like how the song sounds.

I am torn about the dance. Some parts looked cute and felt just right for the song. Other parts looked awkward and exaggerated a little too much. I really like the dance at the bridge and the chorus.

Rating – 7/10

Merry Christmas!!

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Yes, I may have gone a little crazy with the picture above. But hey, it’s Christmas!! 

Hi all,

I just wanted to wish you guys a Merry Christmas to you all!! I hope that wherever you are, you are having an amazing day with family and/or friends. May Santa (Ho Ho Ho) bring you all presents and festive cheer.

🙂

[Review] I’m Fine – VICTON

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for end of November and December comebacks, they will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

There are a lot of boy groups debuting this year. VICTON is another group that debuted recently. They marked their first release on the 8th of November with their first mini-album and the title track, I’m Fine. The group is currently under Plan A Entertainment, which also houses APINK. The group contains 7 members and the members are Seungsik, Seungwoo, Chan, Subin, Hanse, Sejun and Byungchan.

The song doesn’t really capture your attention nor does it sound amazing. But I think I can settle by describing the song as good. As I said, it is outstanding or excellence, but it does have its perks. For example, the track is quite funky and catchy. The chorus is addictive. Their vocals during the chorus does irk me a little because it doesn’t match with the instrumental. There just seems to be a little too much going on at the chorus. I think it is the thick vocals combination (person who is singing the chorus + the back-up vocals) that throws me off. Their vocals by themselves during the verses and the ad-libs at the end prove their potential. The rapping is also quite nice to listen to. The verses are a little dry and bland for my taste. The song relies too heavily of the catchiness of the chorus for me. There isn’t much else to make it a track that is mind-blowing or top of the class though.

The music video stars Naeun from APINK. She geniunely looks happy in this video. Her interaction with the group is quite minimal though, which is a little disappointing. As for the group. The video made them too cheesy to watch. Maybe I am just not into the cutesy concept that much. The video was very colourful and vibrant. It just needed something to make it less boring. Maybe a little more interaction between the group and Naeun. Maybe just have one member and Naeun share a moment together, alone, which each other. Maybe that might not work, but hey, it will get some sort of reaction out of me. And something to talk about.

The dance performance was honestly, boring. I wasn’t captivated by their live stages at all. I don’t know, but what I saw in the video looked impressive, but I was let down when seeing the entire performance in whole. I know they were both the exact same thing. My reaction just did not carry over, I guess.

Rating – 6/10

[Review] Rainy Days – Topp Dogg

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

It has been a while since Topp Dogg has returned to the stage. This is also the first time I am reviewing Topp Dogg, as time constraints in the past have prevented me from doing so. So who is Topp Dogg, you may ask? Topp Dogg is currently a 9 member boy group under Hunus Entertainment. The current lineup includes P-Goon, Hojoon, Sangdo, Nakta, Hansol, B-Joo, Zero, A-Tom and Yano. They originally were a 13 member boy group, who debuted under Stardom Entertainment back in 2013.

I have not been a fan of their releases thus far, but I am going to let you know. This song is different. Their past releases have been heavily mixed with hip hop influences. This one is more RnB with a hint of hip hop present.  It almost sounds like something that Block B would release and reminded me of Block B’s Toy (which I totally loved). It definietly reminds me of rain days and it sounds amazing. I think the vocals and rapping are nice. However, I am not into the rapping that repeated what was sung (such as during the chorus). It kind of distracted me from the overall sound of the song and on top of that sounded a little forced. The song also ended adruptly. Not as adruptly as Astro’s latest song as you could tell the song was drawing to a close. The song should have eased off at the end like zoning out on the sound of rain on a Rainy Day.

It only makes senses for the video to be shot on a Rainy Day, which they did here. But beside there isn’t anything else to comment on in the video. There were some close-up shots, but majority were choreography scenes or shots of them singing. Though, the video matches the sound of the song quite nicely.

The dance looked pretty good. It, too, matched the sound of the song quite nicely. Not too intense but not too simple that it looks cheesy. I don’t have much else to say, but it is a performance that I reccomend you watch.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Think About You – Jun.K (2PM)

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Jun.K (formerly known as Junsu) is the main vocalist from 2PM, under JYP Entertainment. He previously made his solo debut a few years back. He has actively promoted as a solo artist in Japan when he is not promoting with 2PM. Thinking About U marks his solo return to South Korea, in August of this year.

Thinking About You is a song that has the RnB sound, but is mixed with an EDM instrumental.  It is an odd mix but it works really with each other. Vocally, he sounds outstanding. His singing style doesn’t typically match the genres of music that the instrumental has us expecting. But somehow he makes it work. Those ad-libs at the end really do end the song quite nicely, boasting his talents even further. The lyrics of the song talk about the regrets that the guy has, who previously cheated or left his previous lover behind. Overall, I think it is a really good track. It is interesting that it combines genres that don’t usually go well together and still it manages to work.

The video was extremely boring to watch. There wasn’t much going on in it. Though, for someone who never took his shirt off, he has his fair of shirtlessness in this video. There just wasn’t anything captivating in the video. There were many close up shots in different sets and a few choreography scenes. But nothing that worth talking about.

During the live performances, Jun.K doesn’t participate in the dance (he focuses on the singing only, only dancing during the dance break). The dance is okay. His performance overall is a little boring to watch as well. I would have preferred just him singing into a microphone with this song, though.

Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Alright – INX

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

INX is a new band in KPOP, who made their debut at the end of July. They are a 5 member boy group, consisting of Sangho, Junyoung, Bonkuk, Jinam and Win. They are currently under NA Entertainment.

For a debut song, it is pretty good. It does show potential in the band (and that is obviously what the company/group wanted to do). The song does throw you back to the early days, when I started to get into it. This fits in with 2009 and 2010 era perfectly. However, the song is very boring and bland. They used quite an overused sound. They attempted to keep it interesting with that rough sounding “alright, alright, alright” (which is what I find the catchiest in the song), but it does fall short at its intention. The vocal work is pretty good and the rapping is okay. I just don’t have any connection with the song. The odd slow and fast parts, along with the soft and then hard sounding parts don’t really go well each other. It is like “oh let’s take a few genres that other people like, throw them together and hope to kill 1 bird with 4 stones (I do no endorse animal cruelty in any way, it is just a figure of speech)”. I’ll keep them on my radar to see what they can do, but they need something to highlight their talents/skills further.

When I watch the video, I think the song sounds a lot better. Not sure why… I can’t shake it off. When I want to go back and change what I said above (after watching the video), I can’t make any changes because that is what I agreed on (and still do). Does that happen to you? Or am I just being weird?  I can watch the video, but I don’t really like the filter they have on it. It conflicts with the flashing lights in the video and makes it confusing to watch (like my feelings about the song now). Hahahaha… I don’t like that glow they have around themselves when they are blindfolded. That is really odd looking or just bad CG effects. While they do use overused sets, their stage presence in them gives off a new feeling to the sets and I think that really gives fans to chat about. Close up shots of the members and the choreograph scenes aren’t that clear and that’s quite disappointing.

Dance wise, it should be better. They have a song that I am quite sure, meant to give off a mature and strong vibe. It kind feels weak and the complete opposite of the song, sadly. Though their dance at the chorus already fits the beat quite well, I feel like if their moves were a lot sharper and more defined, the dance would look 100 times better. Just putting it out there.

Final Rating – 5/10

 

[Review] Home Run – GOT7

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

GOT7 previously made their comeback with Fly, back in March (earlier this year). They returned shortly after to promote Home Run, which was the second title track off their mini album, Flight Log: Departure. Home Run was released later on and there is no music video to accompany it (hence the short review).

Home Run is a solid song. I personally like it. Fly was very heavy in terms of the sound and the song was a lot serious. Home Run has this more cheerful tone and is more casual. From the raps to the vocals in this song, the song managed to give us a chance to listen to each member. The line distribution in the song is much more fair and even across, which is not that common in the industry, as you may think. I would like the raps to be a little better. They aren’t awful or anything, but they could have been enhanced somehow to give it more of a hook or ring. Maybe the song didn’t need to be rap dense (though I know GOT7 wants to focus more on that). What we have already is quite balanced. Just a suggestion floating by. The instrumental kind of mimics the sound of a baseball bat hitting the ball. I find it amazing how lyricists manage to make analogies between the concept of the song and the topic in question (the majority of the time, it is love). Moving back to the instrumental, the instrumental for the song changes up here and there in the song, which works really well. When I say “change up”, it isn’t anything major. The instrumental is consistent and flows nicely. Just there is some slow parts and some faster parts. Overall, I think the song is quite nice and all aspects of the song were great.

There is no music video for Home Run. However, like everyone else is saying, it deserves one.

The dance was pretty cool as well. Toned down and more casual compared to the dance that accompanied Fly. It fits nicely into the baseball concept of the song. The timing with the sounds of the ball hitting in the bats and the dance was quite enjoyable to watch. I did like the “Home Run, Home Run” part after every chorus. Great hook for the song and dance.

Final Rating – 8/10

[Review] Hotel Heartbreak – Tiffany (SNSD) ft. Simon D

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Tiffany made her solo debut with I Just Wanna Dance in May of this year. She later came back in the month of June with a single, which features Simon D. This single was release as a part of SM Station, which I don’t think I will be reviewing all of them (my promise was a little too ambitious).

An amazing song. It has its roots in the rnb genre, while still maintaining a subtle dance beat. Her vocals are brought out and put on display in this song. Any complaints made against her voice seems to be void for this song. The echoes in the song seem to make the song more impressive, and the chorus has defined quite nicely by the echo and backing vocals. The echoes behind the words “Heartbreak Hotel” gives off an eerie feeling, but at the same time leaves a great impression on you. The bridge of the song is quite good as well. It is different from the rest of the song (in regards to the lack of instrumental) but it builds momentum to put you through to the final chorus.  Simon D always puts out impressive raps and they somehow tweaked his voice to fit perfectly in the song. Overall, the song is excellent from what I hear and I like it a lot.

The music video opens up with Tiffany looking quite bored (or is she heartbroken already?). I am a little torn with this part. Not that it is bad. But with regards to it being prior to the events of the video or after the events of the video. It’s not even a big detail to worry about anyway. Moving back to the video, Tiffany enters a bar and wanders around, accidentally causing a glass to break on the ground. My question is how quiet is the music there? It looks like a bumping crowd, but as soon as glass breaks, the whole club is turning around. This incident, however, attracts the attention of the male lead. Instead of cleaning up the mess (as Tiffany was doing) he drags her away and they start sharing drinks and laughs. They start dating and Tiffany falls for the guy pretty hard. But in the end, he leaves her (Tiffany catches him with another girl after going back to the club). I guess that is what you get for staying at the ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. The rest of the video seems to be just her finding ways of getting rid of her memories of the guy (packing up, going out back to the club). But I guess the scene at the end where she sees the same guy again at the club, while there being other guys around her, kind of shows that she can’t seem to forget at all. Okay, I have talked about the plot of the video. Loved the way the video was shot and their chemistry on-screen was quite powerful. Also loved her shots of her singing while admist the crowd at the club. Really gives off a nice contrast between finding love at the club and then remembering heartbreak at the club.

Rating – 10/10

[Review] Strange – MASC

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Another debut that I missed this year. But better late, then never! MASC is a 4 member boy group currently under JJ Holic Media. They made their debut back in August this year. The four members includes Woosoo, 26, A.C.E and Hee Jae. They debuted with the song, Strange, which was part of their first mini album.

Unlike the title, the song is not “strange”. In fact, it is a classy track that has a very smooth instrumental. The song has a very nice electrical guitar sound and also having a nice hip-hop / RnB vibe. The style does remind me of Beast’s songs back in the day. The vocals and rapping of this band are quite nice. I love how the song slows down at the bridge and then it just goes back to being upbeat and smooth with a simple curse word that is bleeped out. In KPOP alone, this is probably one of the few tracks that do contain a bleeped out curse. Would I say they are geniuses or are cool for doing that? Probably not. But because the bleeping out of a word is quite rare in KPOP, it does capture your attention.  The song is quite catchy and it becomes addictive for a while. The song just became overshadowed by other songs released then. Overall, I think the song is quite up my alley.

The video is a little confusing. I pieced together the lyrics and what I saw to get a story. The guys have all fell for this girl, who ends up cheating with someone else. Everyone is pissed or heartbroken when they found out what she was doing. In the video, we see another member fall for her and he gets furiously angry. Besides the plot of the video (which isn’t any more interesting), I found it very boring. They went with a tough guy concept, but their facial expressions look frozen the whole time, especially when it came to the choreography scenes. The acting is a little weird as well. It just was not interesting enough to watch.

Along with their facial expressions, the rest of the choreography look a bit bland as well. I think the song makes it a little hard to show off more of the dancing side to the band. Maybe if they have a song that shows off the dancer side in the group, I think they would look more awesome on stage.

Rating – 7/10

 

[Review] New York – Mamamoo

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Mamamoo returned with a pre-release single, New York back in September. It has definitely taken me a while to get around to reviewing it, but here I am. Mamamoo went on to include this track as part of their latest mini album, Memory, which contains the title track, Décalcomanie.

New York sounds pretty good. Don’t you love it when I start reviews off like that? No, but seriously, the song is quite catchy and the words “New York” do echo in your mind when you finish listening to the song. There was a very nice balance between all the elements in the song. Their vocals didn’t drown out the instrumental, nor did the instrumental overpower the vocals. There is a clash between multiple genres in this song. I can hear disco, funk, Jazz and a little pop… well… to make it pop. No, this doesn’t make the song bad, but rather interesting (but the first time listening to the song, it was confusing) to listen to. The vocals are quite nice (as I mentioned before – well balanced) and the rapping by Moonbyul was solid as well. The song overall, quite nicely. My only concern is that the song didn’t have that strong Mamamoo feel. Harmonising and loud (as some would say). It was something that I mentioned in the Décalcomanie review, but that song was still managed to sound quite strong. It is a track released prior to their main come back, so I can’t really bang on about who it feels distant from the artist’s usual style and you could even say that Mamamoo is trying to shine through a different style. I just miss that harmonising and backup vocals that sound amazing live.

The music video tells a story, but nothing that I would stick around to watch. But I forced myself to watch it in the end. Wheein has a crush on this guy, but the girls seem to persuade her to have some fun without him. So the girls set up this elaborate plan to pretend Wheein is in New York and the girls go out to have fun. In the end, the guy finds out that the girls were still in South Korea, eating at a food stand. The acting is quite off here. I have to admit it. It looks exaggerated and quite cringy at times. I am also glad that Solar’s hair is fake and that is it simply a wig. I had to give myself a moment when I first saw it. What I liked about the video: the connection between their live performance and the music video. It felt unique and different. It also added to the level of fun in the video, which was something that I also enjoyed as well.

The dance was a little weird, but watching it a few times, I felt like it was just perfect for the song. They promoted the song once or twice, which I don’t really understand why. The dance does look like it was slapped together within minutes (yes, I think dances are slapped together hahaha…), but it still ended up okay (I guess).

Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Fanfare – SF9

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Another male rookie that I missed out this year. SF9 made their debut in October of this year. They are the first dance group to debut under FNC Entertainment, which also houses CN Blue, FT Island, N.Flying and AOA. The group consist of 9 members and the lineup includes: Youngbin, Inseong, Jaeyoon, Dawon, Rowoon, Zuho, Taeyang, Hwiyoung, Chani.

Fanfare is the title track of their debut release. The song is okay. Overall, it doesn’t really stand out from other debuts. It just doesn’t make me go wow or make me feel interested in the band (I say this but I will continue looking out for them for reviews). Closely inspecting the track for this review, I noticed that for the first time in a very long, I think the rapping in the song sounds a lot better than the vocal work.  The vocals just seemed a little flat. That being said, the song does have its moments. The “Lalalala Fare Fare FanFare~” is quite catchy and the instrumental stands out in the crowd. It is a nice mix between dance and hip-hop. To me, it is quite an intense instrumental, which makes the song is quite strong. I personally think it is a song that did show off particular sides to their band. If only the vocals were a little more defined and shown off a little more, I think the song would have been better.

Honestly, the video is a little bland for my taste. But from what I see, the video matches the song quite nicely. The combination of those scenes with not much going on (surprisingly), the choreography scenes and camera work makes the video seem quite intense, matching the same intensity I mentioned above, in the song. I hope there isn’t a plot to the video. Because from what I see, it is just them gathering each up to tag a wall. It also looks like they took the piece of the wall back to a warehouse. Yeah, not going to ask questions over there.

The choreography shares that level of intensity and actually, I think it looks really cool. It is quite impressive as well.

Rating – 6/10