[Review] Sonamoo - Friday Night (Revisited)

This will be an interesting revisit since the original review was a shortened version. I'm guessing I'll pick apart lines more minutely than other normal revisited pieces, which will potentially let me expand on stuff some more. To be fair the random number generator decided this was the song to go for so you can't call me lazy on this one.

• Sadly, this piece won't be published on a Friday night.
  

But this one will! Let's gooooo.

[Misc] Thought Corner: Kpop Hopes In 2018

Y'all know me I'm a sucker for series and continuity on my blog and in general. Here's some hopes and dreams I have for the Kpop industry in the year 2018. Like last year, they range across the spectrum - from realistic to borderline impossible. But before those meaningful thoughts hit the page, let's check back up on last year and see what happened with my 2017 hopes.

[Review] Sonamoo - Friday Night (Blitz)

Sadly, this piece won't be published on a Friday night. Still, we're all waiting for Sonamoo to break out. Despite being the "successor" to Secret (who are still locked up in the dungeon by the way) they haven't really found their footing yet. Mostly because they keep away from the badass tone that they had with "Deja Vu." However! "Friday Night" strays from the more bubblegum pop sound that they seemed to love across the last string of releases, none of which I could get into. This one is a little harder hitting and thank god for that because the girls are better in this element. Also thank god what happens at 0:46 never shows up again. Backing them up is a groovy instrumental and pretty solid choreography. It's one of the rare dances that uses a lot of tutting which is neat. Could even see some silly rollerblades version working out. I love how seamlessly Sonamoo uses Newsun and D.ana's rap breaks. They never seem forced and it's redeeming seeing them shine (I've not been a fan of their performances in their other songs). I'll keep MV thoughts brief: it's boring and could've done without the butt close-ups. They're dancing in water (which is cool) but unfortunately comes after GFriend's release where they did the same thing (not as cool). Supposedly there's another song in the works, so for now I'll enjoy this disco-loving song that puts Sonamoo back on the right path.

Word Count: 244

[Bonus] 2015 Kpop Awards: Leftovers

Here are just some short extra material that I had drafted up or outlined but never got to flushing out for the regular writeup. Most of these are pretty damn random so you have been warned in advance!

Most Engrish Song: Sonamoo - Cushion

I almost put this as the most disappointing song of the year but this award makes much more sense. "Cushion" had potential. The instrumental is pretty addicting and both the vocals and choreography are explosive and dynamic. But most if not all of this is rendered irrelevant by the excessively bad English (both ways: too much English and too terrible English) layered throughout the song. At least Psy's lines were punny, I can't say the same for Sonamoo here. "Cushion" could've been the best rookie group track in 2015 but the Engrish cancelled those plans.

Best Collaboration: Hyorin, Bumkey, Jooyoung - Love Line

This is why you don't sleep on December. Collaborations were plenty in 2015 and many were extremely amazing, but when you combine the best girl group vocalist, and established male solos known for their voice, you know you have something special. At first you'd think it a bit awkward to have 2 male voices, but truth be told Jooyoung takes more of the spotlight and Bumkey is sort of a support role, as weird as that sounds. "Love Line" starts strong and finishes strong, and that's all that matters.

Best Mini Album: EXID - Ah Yeah

BoA's "Kiss My Lips" album was an easy pick for the best album of the year (if I included said category), but the mini section had some more competition. I think EXID takes this because of the dual threat between "Ah Yeah" capitalizing off the momentum they had and the excellent lineup of B-sides. Between "1m" and "With Out U," the remaining 4 B-sides are just as good of material. Throw in another version of "Every Night" and you have a capable EP.

Most Improved Group: SHINee

From "Replay" to "Lucifer," "Sherlock" to "Dream Girl," SHINee's title tracks were diverse but shared an underlying trait: they never hit it out of the park. Every song was mostly competitive but failed to produce that smash hit their labelmates prized. 2015 dropped "Married To The Music" and "View," both electric dance songs with equally exciting vocals. Definitely a high form for SHINee, and "View" would later inspire the incredible sounds of f(x)'s "4 Walls." B2ST also had a good year but "YeY" can't hold up to the SHINee standards.

[Review] Sonamoo - Deja Vu

 is the newest girl group on the block, and already the hate is up very high. People are complaining about everything. From the concept, the the name, to the logo. It's just proving the point that as time goes on, fans get crazier and crazier. All the arguments are pathetic. I'm totally down to see more girl groups take this route instead of instantly choosing super cute or super sexy. Sure, they're very obviously in a similar vein to B.A.P, and admittedly this is quite the awkward time to be pushing out a girl group counterpart with the whole B.A.P lawsuit and all. But last I heard, Girls' Generation, 2NE1, and f(x) were never hated on for being counterparts to Super Junior, Big Bang, and SHINee. Lastly, people actually give a shit about colours? What a joke. Anyways!

This is a fresh debut, so let's talk about visuals. Everyone with long hair is flawless. Naturally, you see lookalikes when first introduced, and the similarities like D.ana with Nana, Sumin with Hara, etc. That's a good start. I don't think either Eunjin or Newsun can pull off that short hair look, though Eunjin is better by far. Briefing over the choreography and song, I would hesitate to call them badass, but they're definitely distinct and exude power. It's a solid start for them, and honestly they don't have the rookie vibe or look like a group that's brand new. Personally I like seeing groups come out strong like this, should give them a lot of attention and staying power.

I'm gonna skip over vocals for a minute and talk about the rap really quick. D.ana is really good. Like, surprisingly (suspiciously?) good, though to be fair, Hana, Zelo, and Yongguk are all under the TS flag and are decent to superb. Low voiced female rappers are so rare and D.ana isn't some mediocre rapper either. All her lines are fresh and strong. Newsun is alright. Not bad, but definitely overshadowed by D.ana. Makes me wish D.ana was the only rapper so she could take all the parts and have longer raps. I suppose drawing parallel with D.ana and Yongguk is a must but as I said, if D.ana wants to add her name to the "low voice rapper" list with Yubin and Bora, be my guest.

A key difference between Sonamoo and B.A.P is that nobody on Sonamoo stands out vocally. They're all pretty average. Sonamoo are also much more similar to each other as far as sound. B.A.P had a few contrasting voices led by Daehyun but Sonamoo lacks that. This hurts them a fair bit but given the strength of D.ana they're more of a performance and rap-oriented group, just like B.A.P. Still, the adlibs at the end were nice, And when you have a strong hook and killer instrumental, sometimes all you need are passable voices.

There was some diverse choreography in this song. They weren't overly sexy (though there was a fair amount of butt-shaking), and certainly not cute, but once again I wouldn't call it badass nor would I call it a clone of B.A.P's debut. B.A.P's choreography in "Warrior" was really flashy and definitely had a style whereas the dance in "Deja Vu" is a little more varied, which isn't bad at all. As for the MV, it's what you've come to expect of Kpop, with flashy lights, solo shots, fancy sets, and even the special effects. I mentioned this earlier, but Sonamoo don't look like rookies. They've got charisma and personality and will definitely control the stage when they perform.

I already had some bias going in because I was stupid enough to read netizen / fangirl comments before actually watching the video, but I'll say with confidence that Sonamoo are debuting right and I hope to see them continue on this path rather than shift to the copypaste concepts we've seen time and time again. Powerful rapping and solid dance, supported by good-enough voices and of course pretty faces. Sure, this group may have given us some deja vu but it's the good kind.

[ Overall: 87 / 100 ]