This is what you expect out of a summer beat! Sistar, take notes. Another killer instrumental out of this group, and another excellent vocal showing, too. As soon as Kyungri started singing you knew this was gonna be good. Everyone pulls their weight, without a doubt but did you hear Sungah and Minha's layered harmony? Damn that's some good shit. It's nice to see Hyemi have more contribution. Last time with "Drama" I was sad that she didn't have much opportunity with Keumjo joining as a vocalist but she's definitely being utilized properly here. On the other end, it's also good to see Hyuna with restricted lines compared to her group because her voice isn't really suited for this type of song. She excels at the prechorus, where the softer instrumental doesn't obstruct her velvet voice. I'm a little concerned with Kyungri's overboard presence in the first 60 seconds of the song but outside of that line distribution is quite balanced to their appropriate recipients. Longing for the day Erin sings even a single line though.
The effort put forth by Erin this time around might actually be the weakest out of 9MUSES' major releases. It's just not as fast as I would have liked, and the flow is a little awkward. Still, she sounds good and I appreciate keeping everyone else out of the rapping. Don't think this really decreases any stock value of Erin, because she's still really good.
I think this is the first time we've seen a music video with giant cargo crates as the setting. There are shots of inside the crates, outside the crates, even on top of the crates. I liked the detail with decorating the inside of the crates, though it's a shame that there were only like 2 crates withe decorations. Would have been really neat if each muse got a custom crate. The MV is certainly in 9MODELS mode, as the girls are flawlessly displaying eye candy and even modeling with some cars / bikes. While I can appreciate the variety of colour, Sojin's wig (I really hope that's a wig) is bad and they should feel bad. Out of the new members, she was more in line with the 9MUSES' visuals so having that bleach blonde is awful. Keumjo looks better than she did in "Drama," so props. Hyuna and Sungah are the visual spotlight for me this time around, though Hyuna has never lost her spot from the center of attention. There's no awkward acting a la "Drama" in "Hurt Locker," just dance sequences and eye candy. The choreography is impressive because it incorporates a lot of variety. The tutting intro is super serious business, and the moves look polished amidst the frantic position changes and hair flying everywhere. While "Drama" kept the dance safe, "Hurt Locker" has some aggressive dancing to compliment the energetic song. Consider this a trademark girl group dance of 2015, honestly.
With the "new feel" of added members and "Drama" behind them, 9MUSES make a statement with "Hurt Locker." The song is energetic from start to finish, with superb vocals from Kyungri, Hyemi, and Keumjo carrying through. Strong choreography and a sick instrumental augment the power of this song. All in all, the qualities make this song worthy of the top summer release so far. The next wave of comebacks like Girl's Day, A-Pink and of course Girls' Generation have some challenges ahead. This summer should be a flurry of competition.
[ Overall: 92 / 100 ]
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