But who cares about the video when we can talk about the sound. The synchronized AOA sound most have to love, as the lineup of Hyejeong / Yuna / Mina / Seolhyun provide a strong backbone for most of the song. Seolhyun's efforts aren't as impressive as the others but still commendable, especially given her part at the bridge is followed immediately by Choa, who of course the standout once again. This instrumental is very much Brave Sound, but it's more beneficial than harmful because this provides consistent background from start to finish, and the AOA sound is amplified. Maybe it's that AOA has a large enough group where this synchronized sound comes naturally, but there are plenty of groups who are just as big or bigger without this type of ability, just as there are smaller groups who share this, too. Even the constant barrage of English support lines and cheers that plagued "Like A Cat" are kept to a minimum or removed from Jimin's plate. When you consider a song with as strong and loud an instrumental as "Heart Attack," it's really impressive that they managed to build off the bridge and transition into a final chorus, where the English actually helps because of the deviation from previous choruses. A shame everything is so loud though, we don't get to hear Yuna and Choa's adlibs as clearly.
It seems that it's been a long time since I've found a Jimin rap this tolerable, but that's exactly what it is: tolerable. All of her raps in AOA's title tracks have always been more of the singrapping Jimin and less of the "Unpretty Rapstar" Jimin but the last time her nasal voice was repressed this well was like "Miniskirt." But the whole rap for Jimin spanned about 7 seconds so I'd be depressed if she butchered it that badly. Still, she has yet to grow on me in terms of her actual voice. Chanmi is worth a quick mention, since she actually impressed a bit, considering that she is usually the AOA equivalent of filler.
All I'm going to say about the choreography is that #1: it's much more reserved and not blatant fanservice compared to "Miniskirt" or "Like A Cat," which I can respect. #2: the extremely questionable part where they sing "heart attack." I don't understand. Oh! And the leg move at Seolhyun's bridge vocals were very clearly inspired by "Genie." Honestly Girls' Generation has fallen off the radar so much that this didn't even occur to me until multiple views.
Anyway, you can seemingly count on AOA to drop videos with substance, at least since the days of "Confused" and "Miniskirt" which was full fanservice. That being said, this video is weird. Not as weird as Mamamoo's, but still. The basic plot is the high school girls' lacrosse team is struggling until the totally-not-a-vampire transfer student Seolhyun shows up and kicks the other girls' butts into gear. Choa also has a cloaked loveline thing happening. But there are many many questions about this MV. Why are girls playing against guys, or vice versa? Why didn't the girls bring proper equipment the first time around? Is this just a showmatch, if so why is everyone caring so much? This high school has all-you-can-eat buffet? Why isn't Choa allowed to love who she wants to love, dammit. And why is this such a big deal if they're just playing lacrosse. Speaking of, props to Chanmi for being on the ball, literally. She was the only one who got a clue when the guy dropped the ball. I'm also sure they violated and neglected plenty of rules but I don't play lacrosse so I can't judge too hard. At the worst case, the last relevant MV with sports that came to my mind was A-Pink's "Mr. Chu," which had no plot at all, so kudos to AOA for still doing something with this MV. Lastly, a short message notifying that Seolhyun has been usurped from the visuals spotlight by Yuna and Hyejeong. Like. God. Damn.
On the AOA hierarchy of title tracks, "Heart Attack" falls just under "Confused" and well above "Short Hair." The song has plenty of energy thanks to the Brave Sound instrumental and smooth vocals guide the way for Choa to make your ears melt. The choreography is a change of pace from the usual "standard sexy moves" we've seen from AOA, and once again we're graced with an actual music video. "Heart Attack" is certainly a redeeming quality compared to "Like A Cat" and "Short Hair" that came before it.
[ Overall: 90 / 100 ]
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