Hello 2014. We’ve already kicked off the year with even more dating rumors, except they’re not rumors at all. Yoona and Sooyoung really do “got a boy” this time around. Anyways, I wanted to strt off this year strong on reviews, and by that I meant on a good note. So with that said, I’m going to go ahead and review the “Something” that didn’t have me cringing, although I was first concerned on how Girl’s Day and TVXQ would be releasing a lead track with the same title. I’m pretty sure Girl’s Day is the first group to have pieces reviewed for a third time, which is impressive given I only discovered them last year.
Vocals: 10 / 10
When I reviewed “Expectation”, I pinpointed that while Minah was revered as the group’s lead vocalist, I was way more impressed by Sojin and the group’s general synchronized sound. This time though with “Something”, I can very easily see Minah as the standout and the others providing the excellent support vocals. Sojin and Yura do a really good job being the “glue” of the vocals between the choruses. Yura especially got plenty of love, and since this song didn’t have a rap (thank everything for that) she got more than her usual share in line distribution, but on the other hand Hyeri certainly seemed to have less than previous releases, and she’s already overshadowed by her groupmates to begin with. While that was worrisome, it’s a really perfect showing from Girl’s Day, spearheaded by Minah’s fantastic work in the chorus and belts at the end. Minah’s English is also rather top-notch, as her opening is flawless and she was the only member who could pronounce “something” correctly (an understandably tough task).
Appearance: 8 / 10
Goddammit Hyeri please grow your hair back out. I’ve mentioned that I enjoy seeing consistency within a group, and that preference has no distinction over how large or small the group is. Sojin, Minah, and Yura are breathtaking, and even moreso with the long locks. But Hyeri’s short cut isn’t helping her, and her eyes are still giving awkward looks at certain angles. Back to the good. Sojin. Sojin. Sojin. Seems like she had been waiting for Girl’s Day to crawl out of the aegyo shell and into this style. Girl’s Day still has space to work through given that Sistar has a monopoly on this theme.
Dance: 9 / 10
Looking back on my previous Girl’s Day reviews, I had a response of “Really?” in the first line. There isn’t one this time around, although I very seriously want to put one anywhere I could. This dance just screams “Sistar” which is good and bad. Good in the idea that a sexy classy song is coupled with an equally sexy and classy dance. Bad in the idea that this group singing and dancing is not Sistar but Girl’s Day. However, given that previous choreographies in “Expectation” and “Female President” were passable and awful, respectively, “Something” certainly earns the best amongst them. The positioning was pleasant on the eyes, which is uncommon in a group with such small numbers. Loved the extra with Sojin pretending to play the piano during the second verse by the way. That was well done.
Music Video: 8 / 10
This score would’ve been better if there was a boy in the MV somewhere, but I can’t fault Girl’s Day too much if you take into account the lyrics. The video is all sorts of fanservice but I was reminded of some sort of mixture between Sistar (the sexy classy sound), Dal Shabet (the dresses), and Sistar19 (the specific colour scheme). Something of note though, is like how Hyeri got the low end of vocal distribution, she also seemingly got a lot less screentime. Which again, is worrying for a member that has the least vocal presence and can’t rap (though I’m not saying Yura can).
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Overall: 88 / 100
To really take advantage of the openings, Girl’s Day needed to come out strong and that’s precisely what they did with “Something”. The vocals are the best I’ve seen from them ever, and Minah really leads the team into the limelight. Sojin and Yura (!) do a flawless job of bridging the verses to the chorus, and the dance and MV are flashy, sexy, but not obnoxiously so. “Something” sounds very good from start to finish, and everything melds together into quite the lovely song. Girl’s Day should feel proud, since “Something” has a sound that is infinitely better than TVXQ’s pathetic “variant”.
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