This week’s Kpop Music Monday
will bring you back to the glory years
with Girls’ Generations’ Mr Mr.
Girls’ Generation are back
after a more than a year long hiatus,
and they’ve brought with them perhaps
their greatest song in years.
We’re gonna explain why we think this,
and hope to see if you agree with us or not.
The thing I like about Girls Generation
is that the sum of them is greater than the parts.
What I mean is this: oftentimes with
Kpop bands they don’t really feel like a unit
as much as a group of solo artists waiting
for their turn on the microphone.
They don’t always sing together.
They sing or rap AFTER another person.
With Girls Generation,
though, they have a sound,
a specific and distinct Girls Generation
power harmony that you can really hear
in this chorus, and it’s bloody stunning.
It’s like they’re all Power Rangers and
they combine to a Megazord which kicks
ridiculous amounts of harmonous ass.
Girl’s generation I need you help!
You must combine into
All right Zordon
...You’re not Zordon
I didn’t hear that in their last two Boy
titled songs as much as I heard it in
Run Devil Run, Genie, Chocolate Love,
which I think are some of their best songs ever.
Which is why I think our reaction to
this video is going shock a lot of you,
because we didn’t give favourable reviews
of their last two songs and
so you think we must hate SNSD
psst: it’s possible to like a band
and not like all their songs it’s possible...
but we were incredibly freaking happy
when we heard this song for so many reasons.
We didn’t like “The Boys” which made us cringe
with the awkward rapping.
This song doesn’t have any rapping.
It’s just singing. And the breakdown
could have been ruined with a rap section,
but it wasn’t!
Nobody raps! They dance!
Yes! That’s what I want to see!
And there’s a progression in this song that’s easy to follow.
The verse builds up to the chorus,
which leads back to the verse,
back to the chorus,
transitions nicely into the bridge
and the revamped chorus.
but it’s a formulaic change,
nice and smooth and coherent.
“I Got a Boy” on the other hand,
tried soooo hard to be so different,
to jar your expectations,
to mash four different songs
into one song, but without doing
full justice to any of the mini-songs,
and it was ultimately dissatisfying for us.
This song here goes back to the roots
of why Girls Generation have awesome songs.
This sounds like what I got into Girls Generation for.
It gives me a really nostalgic feel,
because I haven’t heard Kpop this good in a long time.
I know this is going to be controversial
for some of you,
because what is a Kpop Music Monday
Without controversial points,
but a lot of people
we’ve spoken with, both fans of Kpop
and actual Kpop artists in the kpop industry,
all feel like Kpop suffered a bad year in 2013.
A whole lot of 2013 was…meh.
Both music video wise and song wise.
Hearing this gives us hope.
I feel like I’m discovering Kpop
for the first time again, and I feel excited,
and I’m hoping Kpop as a
whole can keep up with the example that this song sets.
The video, though, was another story.
Although I really appreciate the attempt
at a plot, a plot which seemed interesting
and very poppy and comic book
like what with the funky pink outfits and a nurse theme,
but it’s the editing that ruined it for us.
I feel like there was a plot in the video…
but it got edited out…
I also felt like girls generation might
have been in this mv but they too got edited out.
Who was responsible for putting in
all the overwhelming flares,
the lower resolution,
the interlacing,
the dropped frames from slow motion,
the ultra saturation and
the abundance of filters?
It was too much for too long.
Hi I’m JJ Abrms and I found
Nothing wrong with this Girl’s Generation video.
It’s like someone spun
you around a hundred times,
and as you tried to regain your balance
someone slapped a phone in your hand
and they’re like
”Quickly film this on instagram!”
Except you’re wrapped up in saran wrap
Hi I’m Michael Bay
And I thought this video was grea-
I see more hands and lips and
medical instruments than I do whole faces.
I get that it’s kind of like an operation table,
in which you see Girls Generation
dissected with each close up of them,
but, hey, too much is too much.
OK. So that little black and white break down
with them in those suits was wonderful
and I wish I could have seen a longer dance version.
Here’s the deal.
I know people have different opinions
on what they find sexy.
Some people really find showing off
lots of skin and wearing minimal amounts
of clothing sexy.
They like the use of lingerie in kpop videos,
they enjoy people wearing bikinis,
jiirating with their fingers in their mouths,
they love seeing a topless Taeyang,
and a topless Jay Park show
off their abs and do body rolls…but me?
I don’t find that sexy or even interesting.
Is it wrong? Nope. I just don’t find it interesting,
I find it a very typical and easy way to market something.
What I find sexy is subtle confidence.
Confidence, regardless of what
you’re wearing or doing,
is sexy. Why do you think I like TOP?
He doesn’t dance!
He doesn’t show off his body!
But his sureness and stillness on camera
is just so much hotter than
People advertising their bodies
GAIN sitting in a chair draped in an army jacket
angrily singing at the camera?
Hot. EXO dancing in full suits in eureurang? Hot.
Taeyang fully clothed blowing it up with his
dance moves in Where U At? Super HOT!!!
BoA in a baggie hoodie and pants
dancing down the street in eat u up? HOT HOT HOT!
Girls Generation wearing a traditionally
male suit and hat dancing confidently
but not erotically?
SO HOT!!! SOOO HOT! HOTTER THAN
them playing dress up nurse. I LOVED IT!
I hope these outfits are their live stage outfits!
And as for the Korean of this song
I give --BLERGH
Okay as a Korean, they’re speaking Korean
But I have so many problems with understanding it.
I have this problem with SM since like BoA
A decade ago.
They don’t make sense
I can’t understand as a Korean
Okay for Tiffany’s part where she goes
”Mr. Mr. choegoui namja”
I just like cringe
This part is very cheesy
I don’t know why SM is still
Doing this I like SNSD as like the vocals
They have the best vocals in the country but,
like the lyrics doesn’t make sense at all!
It’s so bad I can’t
Last week asked you to choose between
BAP and BTS for the best B acronymed Boy Band,
and BAP more than doubled BTS.
Now let’s never talk about that ever again
For this week’s Showdown
we’re asking you something different.
Let us know what you think about Kpop in 2013.
Was Kpop better before 2013 or not?
Do you agree with us?
Also we’re interested in
how long you’ve been listening to Kpop for,
if you’re still new to it and you’re enamored,
or if you’ve been listening to it for a while now
and the varnish has worn off.
Let us know in the comments,
also in our poll on our site,
and we’ll announce our controversial results next week.
We’re also going to talk about this more in our blog post,
so make sure you click hear to read more about it.
Lastly, don’t forget to like and favorite this video
and to subscribe for more Music Mondays.
Take it away, Spudgy!