[Review] 9MUSES - Gun

Vocals: 10 / 10

Am I the only one who thinks this song could segue into “Give It To Me” or something of that caliber very well? There’s a mixture of pop, retro, and sass that makes this song ridiculously catchy. While “Wild” uses energy for the hook, “Gun” uses smoothness. Seriously, the voices blend into each other beautifully and the bridge by Hyuna and Hyemi was delightful. There’s no crazy belts or high energy which while may have been nice, may not have fit the song or instrumentals as well as without. Line distribution is also excellent in this piece, something rarely seen in groups with this many numbers.

Appearance: 10 / 10

Damn these girls look amazing. Kyungri, Hyuna, Sera, and Sungah were flawless in this video. I was mainly attracted to the eyes this time. Hyuna and Sera have gorgeous eyes and they’re simply two of the best. This group as a whole could easily compete with KARA in terms of eye emphasis and beauty. I thought it was a little unfair that some members’ solo shots gave them fancier outfits than the others. Hyuna’s blue dress was stunning, but Kyungri only got a similar outfit to their other stuff.

Dance: 7 / 10

Choreography has always been solid for 9MUSES, but it has never been that pronounced or the main focus of their music (for example compared to groups like TVXQ or 2NE1). The usage of chairs and “splitting” up the group and choreography was pretty neat. You sort of implemented the members on the side as pseudo-backup dancers and the main dancers in the center. Similar to “Wild” though, there’s nothing that really stands out in the choreography. So for that, an average score it is.

Rap: 9 / 10

Erin has one of the best rapping voices out of the girl groups, despite the rapping in “Gun” not being standout. It’s low, husky, throws a little energy around, and ends nicely. While her rap in “Wild” was easily one of the best in 2013, this is a good rap that keeps consistent pace with the song and so isn’t out of place.

Music Video: 7 / 10

I don’t really understand this music video. 9MUSES owns a gas station? Seemingly in the middle of nowhere? And some handsome actor-man-guy-person shows up, gives the girls and interested look and the girls return (Hyuna!) but the lyrics of the song are reflected in the video, the man isn’t good(?) enough and doesn’t approach any of the girls. Outside of that, it’s your standard dance scenes and solo shots compiled into a MV full of eye candy. While the vocals of the bridge matched the rest of the song very well, the same doesn’t apply to the music video. It was nice to see the girls in pure white, smiling and frolicking through the fields…but where did that come from? The entire rest of the video had been them on a deserted wasteland at a gas station. Suddenly, fields. I just found that confusing. Also, didn’t they just steal the guy’s motorcycle at the end? Or they abducted him or something. I wouldn’t mind getting abducted by 9MUSES.

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Overall: 86 / 100

This is an excellent title track amongst a blend of other really good songs on the “Primadonna” album. The song is just so ridiculously catchy and flows so well that you’ll find yourself looping this song for hours without even realizing so. The music video is a little underwhelming, but in hindsight they could have taken the theme to a much worse outcome.