Every year, it seems 1-2 new groups flock onto the radar. 2013 had Girl's Day, early 2014 had AOA, and roughly in the middle of the year I stumbled upon Mamamoo and "Mr. Ambiguous." Right away I knew this group had to be looked out for. Anyway, Mamamoo doesn't deviate too far from their previous release, keeping to rather high vocal standards that you just don't see as often as you'd like. Every second of the vocals was enjoyable, especially the latter half where they start going crazy wih harmonizations and extra. I'm not a huge fan of groups that just splash their name in their own songs but both insertions of "Mamamoo" and "Mr. Ambiguous" were well done in the songs so I can't complain. Hwasa's voice is amazing, and seems perfect for this type of music. She was great in "Mr. Ambiguous" but easily better here. Solar and Wheein are just as good, but I'm just in love with Hwasa's voice in particular.
Moonbyul's presence is questionable at best. This song could have easily done without the crappy "To the left, to the right" business after each chorus. Her actual rap isn't half bad, and live performances show she had the charisma and ferocity to make the rap work. Still, I can't but help get the feeling that she's essentially the Bora of her group. She looks good and manages her raps without contributing anything for vocals. But perhaps that's enough to not be carried by the vocalwork of the other members.
While the MV seems like another throwback to Secret's "Poison," there's no heist involved and the girls are just having a good time (and props to Gongchan from B1A4, who I assumed was just some actor). All the haters can leave, the girls aren't wearing anything too revealing and the dancing is pretty tame, with the exception of Moonbyul's solo parts (I'm guess by "dancer" they meant more like stripper?). The colour scheme is great. It's like a throwback to the old times with the heavy usage of black and white, but keeping the colours of the jackets and curtains adds a little vividness. They look like they're having fun, and the choreography also matches the heavy piano background.
"Piano Man" is a masterpiece. Fantastic vocals backed by a supportive instrumental and fun video. The rapping is average and could be done without, but like I said Moonbyul does a good job of working with what she has. Considering that Mamamoo is a rookie group, I think people should be paying more attention to these lovely ladies and if they keep this up they will surely skyrocket to the top of the girl group list.
[ Score: 92 / 100 ]
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