September 28, 2017

[Bonus] Girl Group Vocalist Power Rankings Revisited (#10-#1)

10. Sojung (+4)
Sojung continues to flourish in Ladies' Code's music. Her unique sound and ability can be molded into whatever style is needed. In terms of raw skill I think she's top five material, but doesn't quite have the track record to back it up. Nonetheless, "The Rain" was a smooth R&B number and you could see just how comfortable Sojung sounded. Her solo debut with "Better Than Me" has a criminally low number of views - not even cracking 200 thousand after four months.. Maybe because it's a ballad, but c'mon people can't be sleeping on her talent.

9. Jieun (+6)
The surprising solo comeback of Jieun last October gave her career a much needed jolt of life. "Bobby Doll" is delightfully eerie and it was a style that strayed from Secret standards. It's been so long since the whole group was active that I've forgotten just how clear and bright she sounds at all times. The younger vocalists might have a better resume as of late but the solo comeback is better than nothing. Plus, speaking of her group, Secret is supposed to have a comeback this year, so if TS actually delivers on that we could see some more of her fantastic clarity.

September 27, 2017

[Bonus] Girl Group Vocalist Power Rankings Revisited (#25-#11)

Holy hell it's been 15 months since the first Girl Group Vocalist Power Rankings. Time for the second edition of the list. Same general rules apply. Only one main vocalist per group, present material weighs more than past material (though consistency is still rated), and title tracks act as the resume, with solo efforts / collaborations being fair game, too. Many groups and members have departed since June 2016, so the ex-group members that leave the list are: Choa, Soyeon, Uji, Bom, Bohyung, Gayoon, Hyorin, Yeeun, and Hyunyoung. Those were mainly ranked middle-of-the-pack or higher so it'll be interesting to see how the shuffling works out. Newcomers are the following five members: Oh My Girl's Yooa, Dreamcatcher's Siyeon, KARD's Somin, Cosmic Girls' Yeonjung, and Black Pink's Rose. My hubris has gotten the better of me so I wasn't able to include as many new singers as I'd have liked. But I'm trying to stay on schedule rather than push writing back, and so here we are.
25. Suzy (+5)
Haha, remember when miss A was a group? I'll be saying this a few more times before this ranking is done, that's for sure. Suzy jumps up spots but she's still last. And not much has changed. There's no new group material to look at, plus she is more of the actress than the singer now. But it's not all bad. "Yes No Maybe" was a pretty good song that utilized her voice well. I dunno how that possibly makes up for miss A being dormant but the solo debut did at least exist. Her delicate voice is serviceable but one expects the disbandment news to arrive any day now.

24. Yeonjung (--)
Being as unfamiliar with Cosmic Girls as I am (sans Exy), you could imagine my confusion when I discovered there are three main vocalists in the group. So I went with Yeonjung as she ate up the most lines in their most recent comeback songs. "Happy" and "Kiss Me" are cut from the same cloth that most WJSN's songs are, which is to say they are very poppy and don't really give her a lot of chance to shine. This is a recurring trait that you see in a lot of the younger groups nowadays because the innocent pop phenomenon is still very generic, very popular, and very influential.

23. Siyeon (--)
Dreamcatcher is electric and their instrumentals aren't the only part of their newfound success. Siyeon spearheads a sharp vocal attack. While it can be hard to hear her voice through the crazy guitar and drums, she's still got a good voice. My problem with Siyeon is she doesn't really stand out. And I'm not even talking about in comparison to other main vocalists, but within her group. If you rearranged their lines - which they have done between releases - you could easily mistake another member as the main vocal. Or worse, you might think she's just a support player. Given their previous lackluster reputation as Minx, I can't realistically expect any older songs to really push her out of bottom tier.

22. Jihyo (+4)
Alright so being honest, Twice's last two songs have been awful. There's no doubt about that. The question is, how has Jihyo sounded in those bad releases? The answer is: more or less the same from before. I do think she has separated herself some from Nayeon and Jungyeon. Prior to "Knock Knock" I had the three of them at the same level so there's that. Jihyo's ability to go low (which separates her from the other two Twice vocalists) has yet to be used effectively in Twice's music and that's not really her fault. However, with title tracks acting as the bulk of the grading / ranking she's forced to remain towards the bottom until otherwise.

21. Raina (--)
The poster child of main vocalists suffering from inactive groups, here's Raina. She reprises her spot from last year due to the awkward numbers game of newcomers and departures, After School and Orange Caramel's nonexistence and her solo comeback with "Loop." Her voice is delicate and sweet, which is a contrast from the wacky styles of Orange Caramel or clouded by the dance pop themes of After School. Last year's "Sugar & Me" joint effort with San E also produced similar sweet tunes. She'd absolutely be a middle tier vocalist if her group wasn't buried under 500 feet of inactivity and sadness.

September 20, 2017

[Review] GFriend - Summer Rain

GFriend are quickly and quietly building up an impressive resume. This will be their third title track of the year, after the mature "Fingertip" and innocent "Love Whisper." While the former was an awesome step out of their comfort zone, it was a little disappointing to see them immediately revert back to their debut selves. "Love Whisper" was more like "Glass Bead" and "Me Gustas Tu" than their more impactful releases. But this isn't a review for "Love Whisper." "Summer Rain" might be late on the season but would be a chance to see what direction GFriend were going to take with release #3 in 2017.
That piano opening is lovely and a recurring theme in the song's background. It helps cast an eerie overtone despite the generic pop ballad mix that the song actually is. Upon first listen, it's easy to hear that "Summer Rain" is...very much a GFriend song. The influences from past hits of "Me Gustas Tu," "Rough," and others are hard to miss. "Summer Rain" is also one of the best instances of calm Yuju I've ever heard. She absolutely graces the chorus by gliding over her notes - it's beautiful. She is restrained but still able to show off her voice all the while sounding very comfortable. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the other members. Umji and Yerin in particular sound a few notes out of their range which does detract from Yuju's work.

September 12, 2017

[Review] B.A.P - Honeymoon (Blitz)

Unfortunately I have to break the alternating string of normal reviews and Blitz reviews. I've also added the review tag to all Blitz and album reviews because of common sense. Moving on! B.A.P isn't exactly underrated but given their combination of rapping, choreography, and versatility I feel they don't get enough love. Or at least the love they deserve. "Honeymoon" is a fantastic example of at least two of those attributes. As per B.A.P standard, the rapping is elite. Zelo provides contrast to the smoother catchier moments of the chorus. I also really like they used the opening whistles to setup the chorus even though it doesn't make another appearance. At least, none that I can hear - future repetitions are replaced with singing. It's the little things like this that are hard to notice consistently browsing through other songs. Even though I've never been extremely impressed by the B.A.P vocalists, they do a great job with the chorus despite the spots of Engrish. Having such good rappers will easily overshadow the singers anyway. Meanwhile, Yongguk delivers the finishing punch with his rap verse that drives right into the final chorus (and extensions). And as abrupt as the ending might have been, I thought it did the job necessary to conclude the song. Ignore the usual MV, especially Jongup's mullet. Given that B.A.P is TS' flagship group, they have been treated well this year with solid releases in "Wake Me Up" and now "Honeymoon."
Word Count: 244

September 6, 2017

[Recap] 2017 May-August: Solos Shine

I'm going to try and come up with slightly creative (but not really) titles for these Recap articles. It's so dull just calling every single on a trimester. Even more tough will be going through old Recaps and adding a name to those. Anyway summer was a good time, as we saw solid releases from a lot of groups across the board, but it's more about the solo releases - mostly from group members. Who are they? Scroll down and see.

September 2, 2017

[Bonus] Girl Group Rapper Power Rankings IV: Summer 2017 (#10-#1)

#10. Yeeun (+8)
The new guard is here: the next five rappers finish up high tier and the oldest debuted in 2015. Yeeun is a cutie pie and she carries with her a flighty rapping style with a voice that reminds of Hyuna. This was most evident in "Hobgoblin" where Yeeun and CLC did a fantastic job with the concept. Unfortunately, their latest comeback "Where Are You?" completely abandoned that style. However Yeeun still gave Hyuna vibes, which is good or bad depending on your perspective.

#9. Exy (+10)
Exy has been a consistent contributor to Cosmic Girls / WJSN ever since their debut. She brings a deeper voice that packs more punch compared to the delicately light voices of her groupmates. Truthfully besides "Secret" (which was spectacular), none of Cosmic Girls' music has really inspired me. However, the anticipation for Exy's rap breaks make up for it. Her parts in "Happy" and "Kiss Me" were easily the highlights of those songs. Oh and a release that flew under the radar was "Love Therapy" with Yuna!