The last time I posted in this section was for the 2013 rookie assessment. Even though I haven't been here analyzing the year's events (distracted by things like graduating from college and whatnot), I've still been playing close attention and this year's crop of rookies was actually quite presentable. I've been pretty impressed by what I've see this year, so here's the groups that really caught my eye this year (in more or less order of debut):
| LipService Kiss & Cry 1PS Wings Mamamoo Purfles Sonamoo |  | Got7 UglyPumpkin BigFlo HALO Legend Madtown UNIQ |
To be honest, I almost forgot about Got7, but in a good way. I hardly thought they'd only debuted this year, I've gotten so used to hearing about them and seeing them around when I was in Korea that I totally forgot they weren't old hands at the industry. Honestly, I haven't liked any of the songs they've released with their MV promos, but at the same time I've loved a ton of the music they've had on their releases, but haven't promoed.
| | UglyPumpkin was one of the first rookie groups to distinguish themselves for me. They're a nicely chill group with smooth vocals and fabulous rap that doesn't need intensity to be energetic. Other than the fact that they seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth after their debut, they kicked off their careers extraordinarily well. |
Now BigFlo's debut with Delilah wasn't overwhelmingly wonderful, but it was a fairly solid debut and I found myself getting it stuck in my head. Their follow-up in Bad Mama Jama was similarly unimpressive, yet catchy and cool enough to linger around in my memory. All in all I didn't peg them as the future of Kpop, but I think they've got a good chance of being a part of it, even if they're not leading the wave. LipService served up almost exactly the same story with Too Fancy, but I found theirs a bit more impressive due to the fact that a girl group was rapping in a way that didn't make them sound like little kids. They almost undid their work in their YumYumYum follow-up, but the cutesy there was more satirical than anything else.
| HALO wasn't actually on my radar right away. I somehow missed Fever until after Come On Now came out. Fever was an okay song with an okay MV, but I was really blown away by Come On Now and I'm not entirely sure why. I mean, the choreo's cool, but the MV doesn't show it well, the set and styling all feels pretty recycled, and the song isn't any sort of revolutionary, but still feels just fresh enough to be awesome. The mellow charm of the sweet toned vocals in contrast to the bass heavy beat and the snazzy sound effects just creates a perfect mesh of sound. I like 'em. | |
Domino Game was a fairly impressive way for Kiss & Cry to hit the Kpop scene. Great vocals and some epic styling, and of course a killer beat. The Choreo was fabulous and the MV was glam as hell, so these girls seem to be a complete package. 1PS is quite lovely as well, though I wasn't quite as enamored with their debut as I could have been. Sonamoo was fantastic, but considering their rep as the female BAP, I was honestly expecting more. I mean the wardrobe was fantastic, it's nice to see girl groups in real cargo pants for once, but the girls were still more like underworld accessories than actually fearsome gangbangers.
| Legend practically exists in a league of their own. Their debut with Left Out was one that left me nearly speechless: gorgeous guys, epic moves, fab styling, and some hella awesome integration between melodic lines and rhythms. Lost kept the bar high, but it did bring things back down to earth and make them feel a bit precariously situated. Lost was so similar to Left Out in how it was set up that it risked making them seem limited in how they could adapt. But all my worries were laid aside in face of their November release: I Wanna Know. This track proved a lot of things, but mainly it showed that they didn't need a borrowed acoustic melody to lend a sense of legitimized weight to their music. They did this song all on their own with only synths and basic loops in the background. Their mellow voices and the striking synths somehow blend together to make the track beyond words of wonderful. | My outrageous expectations were mostly due to Purfles' earlier and epic debut. 1, 2, 3 had like half the budget and certainly less than half the hype, but damn did they deliver. The song is intense and the vocals were utterly uncompromising and beautifully strong. It was much more like what I was expecting for a group called the female BAP than what TS delivered in Sonamoo's Deja Vu. The whole whisper-whisper thing was kind of insultingly sultry rather than smooth, particularly in comparison to how Purfles managed to not only make the song sound strong and vibrant but also created a catchy kpop track that wasn't a letter of love addressed to a guy. This track BFF lovin' in all the right ways and it's so perfectly non-romance-obsessed. Additionally, the MV shows epic styling and keeps their cool demeanors up while still showing off the fact that they boys are all massive idiots. It's a strangely lovely mix of mischievous and masculine and I really do love the effect it adds to the MV. |
Next on my agenda is the girl group that I've decided to hand the crown to. Wings is a duo that easily makes this year's top rookies in the girl group category. They have some incredible vocals and some absolutely heart-wrenching concepts that are carried out with a beautiful flair for the poignant understatement of true drama. Both Hair Short and Blossom have fantastic visuals that tell wonderfully empowering stories while not losing out on things like choreography and glamour shots. Their vocals are strong and dynamic, and beautifully flushed out with a full-bodied ring of lightness. I have no qualms at all about handing them the title of my favorite rookie girls of 2014.
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The only other girl group that caught my eye this year was Mamaoo, which I thought for sure had the honor of being my favorite in the bag. I mean, Mr Ambiguous is a fantastic track and the girls are some of the best female performers I've seen in Kpop for years. The only thing Wings won them out on, truthfully speaking, was the MV. The message and the way it was delivered in both videos by Wings was outstanding. Mamamoo's tracks were great but their MVs were... classy and colorful and lovely, but they didn't really make me think about my life or the universe. Piano Man, like their first MV, was gorgeous, but it wasn't revolutionary, so Wings is the one that wins it.
| And now at last we've come to Madtown. These guys retroactively blew me away. I wasn't thrilled with their debut MV. Seriously, 30 seconds with no music and no explanation did begin to wear on my patience. It was trying to the point that I didn't give the song the chance I should have. On a first listen, the song doesn't sound put together or polished, but it's not supposed to. It's raw and expressive in a uniquely gritty way that the other 'rough and tumble' groups like BAP and Bangtan can't touch. It got stuck in my head somehow and it took me forever to figure out how what song it even was and by then it was too late to let it go. | Up next we're back to the boys and UNIQ is one I've been excited to talk about. Their debut track was spectacular. Falling in Love is one of the best debut's I've seen in a while, it's simply gorgeous. To look at the MV's very flashy and there's some clearly recycled elements in the set and the wardrobe, but the arrangement is fresh and fun. The harmonies and the melodic leaps take the listener on a wild ride that really makes the happy anxiety of falling in love come to life. Sadly, the rest of their year has been less impressive, but they're still up high on my to-watch list. |
| | The track is epic, it moves and it fantastically balanced with fabulous decorations in both high and low registers that keeps the whole thing fresh and interesting as the rap and vocals weave their way through the sound. The MV is gritty and gorgeous and oh sweet shisus that chroeo. I was not expecting that for some unfathomable reason. JTune is known for greatness in things like choreo, but this is almost unreal it's so awesome. They win my crown for best Rookie boys of 2014. They've only had a few months to prove themselves, and I haven't seen any follow-ups but still... |
It's Time to Congratulate my 2014 Baby Bands:
Wings | & | MADTOWN |
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