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Boyfriend - Bounce (MV Review)

3/13/2015

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Charming  & Whimsical

            I've been loving all of Boyfriends recent fairy tale releases, from Peter Pan with *Obsession* to *Witch* to this delightful depiction of Alice in Wonderland. This version of the classic tale is awesome because it features Alice as the instigator rather than the passive victim. Our Alice enters the scene draped in red, a monastic mantra playing behind her. Whether this image is supposed to depict her as a monk or as a religious sacrifice, it's an image our Alice rejects by whipping off her cloak and revealing her true self. We see her sitting at a table, a bubbling brew beside her and an unopened book set before her while she decides what she wants her reality to be. We zip into the world of the book, to Alice's imagination, to find that everything is frozen, waiting for a thought to kickstart it. Throughout the MV, we see Alice holding the book in deep consideration, we see her gambling with a leap of creativity, and drawing herself ever-closer to the white rabbit. The world inside the the book, specifically the tea-part scene, only comes to life (outside of choreography) when Alice willingly enters the book herself. She holds the clock, controlling time's progression there (much like how things can only happen in your imagination while you're actively thinking about them). She drags everyone else into the rabbit hole with her and leaves them trying to find their own way out of the world she's built for him... it's all wonderfully topsy-turvy.
         I LOVE the styling. We've got a gorgeous Hatter, and perfect twins to play the Tweedle Two. There's a lovely toy soldier for the Queen's army, too. The 'male alice' that I've seen Hyunseong reported as doesn't make sense to me, but seeing him as a chesspiece does; as a chesspiece he'd be an integral part of the world, a part of Alice. Perhaps he could be analyzed as a depiction of her desires in a significant other, that would explain the blue shirt rather well, certainly better than the idea that he's Gender-bent-Alice (while original-Alice is a present character). And Donghyun as the white rabbit also doesn't make sense to me. I see him as either the Cheshire Cat or the March Hare, both of which traditionally provide counsel and guidance that proves rather less than helpful. I personally would lean towards the March Hare because the original depiction of that character comes from the phrase "Mad as a March hare" which adds a sexual connotation to their interactions that is complimented by the visuals depicted (bunnies have always been thought of as busy little breeders people)... I clearly love the character styling, but even more than that, I adore how the hip-hop and military-chic outfits are worked in with flawless blend of fashionable interplay.
            The choreography is gorgeous, and it suits the track extraordinarily well. The track itself is well rounded and balanced between hip-hop charm and synth-y pop fun. It's catchy as hell. The backing sounds are repetitive and so close to crossing the line towards being annoying rather than a decorative compliment to the vocal melody. Nothing in the instrumental is interesting enough to hold its own without the vocals but the vocal melody evolves well enough to mitigate most of my concern. Other than that, this is a slid release and, as always, Boyfriend's concept and styling is spot on. There's lot of visual throws to the 2010 Tim Burton version which I appreciate, and a lot of individual innovation on the styling system. I like it, as a whole.

I Give It An 8/10: Fabulous!

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Boyfriend - Seventh Mission (Music Review)

6/14/2013

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Favorite Track: Dangerous

Final Score:  4/10

Pre-released Singles ~

Be My Shine is synth heavy, it really doesn't need as much as it has the ostinato pattern either fades away into the backdrop or just gets annoying depending on how you listen. It doesn't change position, it doesn't spatialize, it's just there. Other than that the song is lovely and bright, it has a nice energy from the Melody alone and the beat lends it a feel of urgency. The synths are great in the bridge, but only if you haven't grown to hate them by then.
Dance Dance Dance, as I've said before, is one of the few fusions of cute energy and vibrant power that Boyfriend is likely capable of putting out. There's only a very fine line to walk between the two concepts and they've tried and failed a few times, but they've also hit it right on the mark a few times too. This leans a bit towards using the dance-y synths to push an infusion of energy, but still.
My Lady is sweet and energetic, very suitable for a drama OST or general BGM. It has good shape, but no spark to keep me listening as it progresses.
Hitomi no Melody is a sweet, soft-toned song, even with the introduction of heavy bass. Prototypical of boyfriend, and nothing unique in the world of cutesy boybands.

I give them a 4/10: Meh, Not Bad

Album Originals ~

Code Name; Spy Get Love is a cool intro song, very dramatic. Totally misleading though, there's nothing in the rest of the album to justify it being the 1st track. Even Dangerous & Supernatrual are nothing like it. I LOVE it and there SHOULD be many more tracks like this on future Boyfriend releases. It's still a bit rough, because they've never done anything like it before, but it still has solid energy and melodic movement. A little too much autotune, and a little too much synth overlay, but still pretty good.
First Kiss starts off cool and quirky. It jumps pretty quickly into fairly typical cute-group music and the vamp it samples is a) way over used, and b) totally not suitable for this song. The chorus is lovely and light, but without the rest of the song pulling it's own weight, it falls fairly flat.
Party Plane is nice and bright. It's elegantly built, the transitions are lovely, and it's fabulously catchy. As a whole it has a great energy and it moves well. The bridge seems pretty unnecessary, but it's a cute bit of Engrish. The last few choruses build nicely and the ending comes up with expectations, but it ends on an upbeat, not a downbeat, so it only gets half points.
Supernatural is what I've wanted ever since their water floor teaser way back when. Boyfriend, their cute concept aside, are really good at this sort of aggressive thing. I'd love it if more 'flowerboy' groups went for an aggressive angle. You don't have to be stereotypically manly to have some powerful moves. The song itself is only okay, it's not very well balanced, but I like it conceptually.
Dangerous has some more dramatic elements in it. This is the sort of song I want to hear more of from Boyfriend, they're good at it. There's still the higher pitched aspect that trends towards cutesy, but there's an undercurrent of anxiety and energy that they could really utilize more.
My I is cute, very energetic. Catchy and melodically vibrant, it moves very well.The transitions float lightly together and the piano gives it a chipper and elegant vibe. It's definitely a great song.
Waikiki sounds like a wintertime beach vacation, it has elements of Christmas music and elements of beach-y fluff. It seems like its trying to be too many different things at once, because there's also elements of summer-time relaxation jam and summer-time party-anthem. I like the pitch-bending in the bass, but it doesn't actually feel necessary, it's just a bit neat.

I give them a 4/10: Meh, Not Bad.
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Boyfriend - On & On (MV Review)

5/30/2013

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Cute & Safe

This is an adorable, but rather bland release. The track is industry par, nothing very interesting. It's just cute coffee shop BGM. The MV's simple and remarkably unexciting. It's just some more BTS-style footage, carefully crafted cuteness designed to look unplanned. I'm sure some of it is actually the members' natural cuteness, but this whole thing reeks of being contrived. And considering the fact that the reason I fell for Boyfriend to begin with was the intensity of their choreography from their very first teaser and then their first single . . . pretty much everything they've released since then has been rather disappointing, but this is particularly dull.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fairly solid release, but it's just the industry standard with zero effort to be more.

3/10: I've Seen Worse.

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