Mamamoo keeps doing what they do best, working with the retro sound and strong vocalists they have. This time around they have a more playful and pop-oriented focus. Wheein, Solar, and Hwasa sound very comfortable here, but I will hesitantly claim that this song is the weakest in terms of character. "Ahh Oop!" had overwhelming amounts of charisma, "Piano Man" was sultry and alluring, and "Mr. Ambiguous" gave them the foothold to start their careers. "Um Oh Ah Yeah" is just kinda simple / bland, when all is said and done. It's not that it's any sign of fatigue, after all this is a fun song, and simply Mamamoo exploring yet another type of music, I'm only saying this release lacked the extra "oomph" other songs had. I'm also not sure about the sudden drop in the latter half of the bridge, right after the "dururu dururu oh yeah!" part. Seems like the song could have easily moved into the final chorus without that awkward drop.
Moonbyul stopped saying her name before raps, finally! She's strong, smooth, and to the point. I do not like how they gave Hwasa some rapping lines. She may have the voice and sass for rapping, as evidenced in her "Pink Panties" cover, but here her delivery is sloppy and she sounds rushed. Having Moonbyul go after her just makes Hwasa look worse and Moonbyul look better. Maybe this was planned? Hwasa is also taking away critical time from Moonbyul who already has poor line distribution since she doesn't get to sing. Luckily for Moonbyul she gets some more lines sprinkled in towards the end, but truth be told this is probably the least impactful rap thus far. It competes with the rap in "Piano Man" where the lame chants at the end of choruses hurt the rap score.
This video is...interesting. The Mamamoo ladies are all pretty good actresses, especially Solar who had to tackle the main role, but Hwasa was especially hilarious for her portrayal of the greasy guy. Shoutouts to Wheein for having the easiest role of being a character that nobody pays attention to and just gets to be a glutton throughout the MV. The dialogue at 3:16 disrupts the song, and is pretty much only used for filler purposes of the MV's plot. This and the prior break about 25 seconds earlier ruin the flow of the song for me. Sometimes I make exceptions to this type of stuff but this time around I'm not a fan. The takeaway is that Mamamoo can work with curious concepts, and once again, any plot is better than no plot at all.
If you mix together a curious title, excellent vocals, simple dance, good (and bad) rap, wrapped together in a questionable theme of a video, you would have "Um Oh Ah Yeah" as the end result. I like how I didn't bring up the choreography at all in this review, ha. It's a smooth song in the end, but I can't help but wonder if Mamamoo could have reached for more greatness with the "Pink Funky" title track.
[ Overall: 85 / 100 ]
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