Due to sheer quantity, CLC hasn't been a group on my radar. I did catch their debut last year with "Pepe" but otherwise have been completely in the dark on them. I'll be going into this review with little to no knowledge of the group since "Pepe." This should be an interesting take compared to my other reviews, where I'm usually quite familiar with the groups and idols I write about. Then again, I did take on both Oh My Girl and NCT rather recently so maybe I'm just blowing hot air at this point. All I did for preparation was watch "Pepe" a few times (and "No Oh Oh," obviously), and read up on the members (to get the roles right).
So starting off, CLC got new members! That threw me for a loop seeing seven members. When I watched the video for the first time I was confused because I thought there were only five of them in "Pepe." Anyway, this song is bright and fun! It's very catchy, and surprisingly doesn't irritate me with how stupidly repetitive some parts of the song are. The main culprits of this of course are the whistling, and the "aniya" used in practically every other line, but somehow someway they manage to not ruin the song for me. To be fair I don't think they contribute much either except for the latter's purpose in the title but still. While the song's style and sound are unchanged from "Pepe," it seems the member dynamic has.
In "Pepe," Seunghee and Sorn seemed to be the main attraction while the others were left to support roles. This time around, Seungyeon, Eunbin, Yujin, and Yeeun have taken over. These girls take the lion's share of the parts which leaves Sorn in the dust. Though I can appreciate sharing the lines around with the non-vocalist members (who all have respectable voices), it's the voices of Seunghee, Elkie, and Sorn that deserve the attention. Each of these girls have strong voices (I mean just listen to that bridge), and could easily be or compete for the main vocalist in a few other groups, let alone within CLC. So in this regard, I don't like how the song is setup because the lack of a strong vocal showing despite Elkie's great high note. And just for a final bit, this English title should've been "Oh no no" instead of "No oh oh." The former is used far more in the lyrics than the latter. Hell, the part after the chorus is an "oh no no." Seems like title grievances won't be going away anytime soon.
New members aside, Yeeun is definitely the star of "No Oh Oh." She gets not only a 20 second rap but also both prechorus parts? What a pleasant day to be her. This is a very succint and emphatic rap. She could really develop into the superstar rapper of this generation of girl groups; I see that much potential in her. On her appearance in Running Man, she was notorious for speaking with aegyo (too much aegyo if you ask me) but that's not a fair criticism given her age. Her voice reminds me of a young Ahn Soomin with a touch less nasality. Her mechanics and flow are on point and her mannerisms match her output. Back when "Pepe" was released I noted Yeeun because of her rap and I'm glad to see that didn't diminish in the year away from the group, and in fact got way better.
The choreography of "No Oh Oh" gives the members plenty of opportunity to showcase personality (something they very much take advantage of in the music video). There's a baseline for moves but in general it leaves space (time) for acting and being cute. For a rookie, CLC's stage presence and mannerisms are really damn strong. As for the dancing itself there's not that much going on, and you can tell it wasn't really the focus as much as it was in "Pepe." I'm confused with the "oh no no" part after the chorus, are they cats? I don't really get it. The choreography is nice but definitely takes a backseat to all other aspects of "No Oh Oh."
As this is a new(er) group, and being reviewed here for the first time, there's the obligatory "members look like so-and-so" cliche. Elkie reminds me of a cross between Jiyeon and Hong Jinyoung. Seungyeon reminds of Juniel, mostly because of her eyes. Yujin reminds me of someone I can't put my finger on. Eunbin reminds me of Hayoung, in that they look similar and older than their age and maknae status suggest, and that makes me uncomfortable saying that because she's 16. Anyways, this your run-of-the-mill music video, painted in bright colors across the board. There's no other people in the MV outside of CLC, but perhaps that isn't needed because the girls are energetic to the max. Seriously, they all project personality from their individual shots to playing with the group and even some of the choreography scenes! This level of liveliness translates well to song, and makes the MV an exciting experience, even if it's the stereotypical formula. My sole complaint about this video is that they show members lipsyncing in non-chorus parts, which makes learning who sings what difficult. But that's a complaint from the perspective of a writer, not a fan.
Everything about this song screams potential, and it's easy to see why. Seunghee and Elkie sound great, Yeeun has very solid rap fundamentals, and every member possesses fantastic energy and stage presence despite their (lack of) experience so far. On top of that, the music they promote helps mold their talents and they have reached another level since the days of "Pepe." Their next steps will be working on line distribution (Sorn) and maybe more interesting MVs. Still, CLC at present is definitely a group to watch out for.
No comments:
Post a Comment