Stalkery, obsessive behavior is no better when it's framed with Aegyo than it is when framed by dark broodiness. It's still creepy as hell, and the fact that they not only stalk him, and invade his home, but also rifle through is underwear drawer is just plain stalker-creep of them. It's not cute, no matter how many plastic toys or foam-plushie kitty noses go into it... That said, I do still like this MV, though not entirely for it's own merit. It reminds me strongly of Kara's Wanna MV, which has a very similar concept, though I like the track for Wanna much better. Kara's MV is one I found perfectly acceptable when I watched it, but that's because in 2009 I was 16, and stalking the person I had a crush on seemed perfectly reasonable to my hormone-addled brain. Which it isn't. At all. And as a significantly more sane 22yr old, I'm appalled that I ever empathized with the idea... So I'm kinda ewwed out by this, worrying over how many teenagers are going to see it as an acceptable response to attraction...
           Aside from that I do love the styling in this, the whole comic-book pizzazz with sequins vibe is absolutely fabulous and I deeply enjoy all the street fashion that was worked in as well. In terms of the track, I actually find it annoyingly cutesy, considering how wonderfully they managed to avoid falling into that trap with their debut. This track does have it's appeal, it is well made and well balanced and it moves over a delightfully energetic beat with a strength that normally evades straight-up aegyo tracks. For an aegyo-focused song, there's no skimping or shirking, so it's actually a really good track. I just don't like it (There's absolutely no relation between how good a song is and how much I like it, they often correlate, but there's no legit connection). It's a solid comeback and it does good things for the Aegyo genre as a whole, so I'm quite pleased by the release and CLC is a band to watch!

          HyunSeung has long been one of my very favorite human beings in show business, dating back to his time as a potential member of Big Bang. His work with BEAST and as a part of Trouble Maker has been fantastic, so I was totally hyped for his Solo. I wasn't disappointed. The track is hella catchy, the music video's styling is gorgeous, the choreo's killer... right up front there's so much awesomeness that I didn't know where to start when dissecting it. So I just watched it again, and then again, just to drink in the colors and the chic style. 
        That's when things began to get a bit iffy. The chorus is catchy, but it's really simple. That's not necessarily a negative, but the simplicity of the chorus allowed me to focus on they lyrics and more importantly on their translation. The first thing that confused me is the fact that 처음이야 translates to 'being first' but not as in 1st Place, instead it means something more like 1st Crush. Which I guess is applicable, based on the overly devoted reaction and the day-dreaming histrionics in the rest of the song, but personally I found the phrasing to lend itself to a different meaning: rather than "you're the first girl I've ever had a crush on" it seems more like the lyrics want to say "you're first among all women, best of the best", but I'm pretty sure the word for that kind of first is 먼저이야... That could just be my inexperience in Korea with either winning things or with being anyone's first, but it still confused me. Again, that could just be me.
          There were a few other things that confused me about the release, this time though it was the MV that was confusing. The order of events is really unclear and I couldn't really tell what was a dream and what was really happening... My final interpretation is that NOTHING actually happened. The suave slick style of the flirty HyunSeung seems to me more of an idealized sort of imaginary play-by-play, something like a shower scenario where you rehearse what you're going to say to the pretty girl that, in reality, you're never actually going to talk to. The psychosis HyunSeung displays in his apartment (the writing on the walls, the erratic behavior, the crazy hair) seems to support that theory. Nothing at all that happens in HyunSeung's apartment is plausibly real, other than the fact that he's going more than a bit crazy. It is possible, I suppose, that it's all real, since the girl appears in his apartment at the end, seemingly wearing the shirt he wore to the club, but its much more likely that none of it's real. The fact that HyunSeung wants her so much makes it more plausible that he doesn't get her.
           The choreo is powerful and impressive. It's not my favorite aesthetic, but it's suitable for the vibe that the sets and styling provide. The fact that it's full of abrupt and jarring movements plays off the confusion in the rest of the MV as well as with the sharp spins in the track. As for the track itself, the beat is energetic and HyunSeung's smooth vocals slide through the mix with an edgy attitude that's as catching as the track. If you can listen to this  as you walk and not strut down the street, I'd be impressed. Giriboy's rap is an addition I didn't initially like (simply because I always love when JunHyung helps out his bandmates) but having seen JunHyung get a LOT of focus in 2014 for being just a bit too omnipresent in Beast's releases and in those of other bands... it was nice to see HyungSeung on his own with a rapper from a different source providing the necessary featured appearance.
            Over all I really do enjoy this release. The chorus does become a bit grating after a dozen listens right in a row, but still, over all, it's a fabulous track. The MV is pretty awesome too, being aesthetically gorgeous and deeply interesting in terms of story lines. Also, HyunSeung was adorable in the BTS reel.

          "Crystal Clear" is an odd name to condense to CLC, but whatever, it's certainly not the strangest name in Kpop. CLC is a good, easy to remember, roll-off-the-tongue kind of name, so it works. I think this group has a great chance of success for many reasons, starting off with the fact that the classy-cute but full of attitude vibe suits the generalized production vibe of CUBE Entertainment. A-Pink deviates significantly from the party line expected from a CUBE artist so I'm not surprised that their cutesy debut came very close to flopping. They've since recovered beautifully, but it was a worrisome situation. BtoB was fell into line more with A-Pink than with Beast or 4 Minute and they've never been used to their full potential. CLC is much more what I would have expected from a Cute Concept Group from CUBE than anything else they've orchestrated.
           There's plenty of aegyo and innocence and high smoothe vocals, but there's also a lot of sass and synth overlay that add energy and interest to the whole release. It's pop-y and peppy and perfectly cute, while being sharp synthed and pumped with bright energy enough to show off an undercurrent of aggressive confidence, the sort that comes from a self-awareness of being awesome. The sassy-ass hair-flips are the prime example, being sudden sharp movements laced within the sugary-sweet oohs and aahs and smooth 'shy' shoulder shrugs. The track itself back up the attitude-but-adorable vibe, being filled with sweet high notes carried off by strong, full-bodied vocals that haven't been squished by cute-i-fication. The backing instrumentals are quirky and set at a nice mid-level that keeps the baseline feeling light, but still allows the high notes to shine as quite a stretch.
            The video is fabulous, on all counts. The visuals of the settings are unique and identifiable without being so bizarre that they don't mesh with the rest of the genre. The styling is classy and cutesy, the sports-wear being off-set by pastel pinks for cute-ness, and skin-tight elements in classic black that bring in the sexy and sensual while still being somewhat reserved and the non-coordinate sports-wear is off-set by the aegyo-acting. The classy little-black-dress outfits are off-set by the fluffy skirts, the pale-paneling, and the adorable cheerleader ponytails. The choreography is flawless, paired perfectly with the flow of the track, meshed well into the styling, and captured perfectly by the camera's movements. There's enough glamour shots to start learning the differences between the the members and then at the end the helpful snapshots allow us to put names to the faces we've begun to learn. I like how the names come at the end rather than the beginning (like in many debut MVs) because in the beginning, I don't know the differences in the faces well enough to able to identify them as the video progresses. But after watching them for a few minutes? The names actually stick.
              All in all, this is a fantastic release and a fabulous debut. I'm delighted with what they've got right now and I'm excited about their release prospects for the future.

        I like the stab at a sort of mainstream hip hop for these girls. They've always been on the lovely border between the synth-y bright melodic pop that got kpop kickstarted and the hard and fast hip hop that really got the ball rolling for it in the modern era (I've said before that they're halfway between 2NE1 and WonderGirls, though 4Min has always been my favorite of the three). 
        This isn't what I was expecting from them, and the first time I heard it was was a bit disappointed with how mainstream it felt, totally lacking their usual melodic push or their colorful quirkiness. It's still not my favorite, but the elegant matahari flair of it makes up for a lot. The subtle introduction of color could have continued until the whole MV was in full color, which I would have appreciated because the BTS footage makes the styling look to die for. I think there could also have been a more powerful chorus, because the vamp is fantastically energetic and it just kind of falls flat into the chorus. Fortunately, that chorus is pretty catchy, even if it doesn't zing with the vibrancy of a masterwork, I'm certain that I'll be stuck in my head for a long while yet to come. 

        The choreography is fun and fluid and it really goes well with the vibe of the video, and it moves perfectly to the beat and evolution of the music. But what really captures me is the hat-thing. We use eyes and hairstyles to identify our Kpop superstars, because the rest of their styling changes so often (teaser pics to show us what hair color / length / shape we're looking for in connection to a name). The hats in this video are interesting because they way they're used takes away our access to the girls' eyes, but in giving us specific labels, the hats also help us ID the very girls we can't ID on our own. It's a really interesting look at Identity, particular when taken into account along with the fact that the lyrics discuss finding a 'hidden self'. Also, one of the main causes thought to be responsible for what we call insanity is, at its most simplified, an identity crisis.

        I was honestly going to skip Cold Rain, electing to go straight to Crazy, but I decided a short review wouldn't kill me. I adore 4 Minute and this is a gorgeous MV, visually at least. The track is lovely, well-done though it's not my favorite. It's fairly well-rounded and it moves fluidly though its paces in patterns that the human brain recognizes even if you've never heard the song. It's nice, but nothing special.
        The MV is gorgeous, filled with beautiful shots of the girls all glammed up. Almost every frame makes for a fabulous screen cap. I've got a lot of problems with it though, because despite how pretty it is, nothing really happens. At all. If you've read any of my other reviews, you'll know that one thing I can't stand is an MV where nothing happens. So this one, pretty as it is, can't earn many points from me.

First off, I'm very confused about why the official English translation is G.NA's Secret... 예쁜 속옷 translates to "pretty underwear" which makes the MV make way more sense than if it really meant G.NA's secret. That's not really any sort of issue, but it does bother me. Anyway, this is not my favorite release of G.NA's. She has incredible vocal range and the sort of lung capacity and vocal power that even seasoned singers swoon over. And this song . . . really doesn't show it. And more than that, this song is just plain... bland. It's not so much generic as it is featureless. It's pretty and smoothe, but with a name like pretty lingere, you'd think there'd be something a little more distinctive about it... The vocal range is less than an an octave, and the background instrumental spread is a little less than twice that: in other words, the song is just incredibly narrow. There's zero drama in it, it sounds weak and thin and there's almost no progress or evolution. The song just doesn't really go anywhere that feels like it's worth going to. It's okay in terms of background music, but that's really what it sounds like: a lovely little non-distracting track meant to play during a kdrama montage. The lyrics have a sense of drama in them when you read them, and none of it comes through in the track.

The video too is fairly disappointing. It's pastel AND desaturated, making it look washed out and dull. The plot is thin at best and the creepy store clerk contributes nothing of value. It's just boring. I could see it coming from a rookie group, or even some of the less popular groups paired with low-budget production teams, but for G.NA . . . this is just tragic. She, and CUBE, can do legions better that this.

        The idea of moving pictures and a frozen real-life is a fabulous one and here it's been brilliantly pulled off. The MV is absolutely gorgeous and the track is as well. YeRi's voice is gorgeous and it sits neatly inside the song, which has been beautifully spatialized to envelope listeners. The track builds beautifully, drawing up the angst and tension as the story evolves. It draws to a gorgeous release and even gives listeners a few breaths to calm down with before coming to a sweet and smoothe cadence. Beautifully done.

                This was my favorite song off the Secret Garden EP. It's well constructed and catchy. The melody is a high-line adorable thing filled with the girlish innocence that Aegyo tracks are known for, while at the same time having an energetic spunk that give the whole track a much more engaging feel than most of the other tracks on this release. It's just a fun song that's easy to sing along to.
                 Speaking of singing along, I loved the karaoke-sub aspect. The font was adorable and it was fun to attempt to read fast enough through them to keep up with the lyrics, though that may have just been me. Otherwise, the MV was just plain fun to watch. The girls goofing off could make anyone smile. It's not a terribly deep video, but it's not trying to be. All it's attempting to achieve is to make Pink Pandas, and other viewers alike, smile. Which I think it did perfectly. It's one of the only Aegyo-centered MVs this summer that didn't make me roll my eyes.

Also, I'm sorry about the sudden lag in posting. My 21st birthday was on Monday and this week has been full of festivities (and then with catching up on school-work ignored due to said festivities...). I have a back log that I'll be posting this weekend, and then I will be back on track and posting as releases are actually released.