Kevin: Ooh-
The bird followed by the low voice is insane.
[Rossini's Semiramide Overture playing]
Before we let loose our inner odd
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thanks to the support we get from our Patreon.
Since we are unable to monetize any of our react videos uploaded to this channel
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which includes uncut reactions to this song,
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Alright, without further ado, let's react to
"Maniac"
Alright, you are now reacting to Stray Kids' 2022 comeback 'Maniac'
off of their "Oddinary" mini album
which is a play on words for...
~ordinary~
(t/n: According to auto-captions you just witnessed [Music].)
Liam: Nice.
Rachel: See, I wasn't gonna say that, I was gonna say, I was like...
Audio?
Raffi: So it's not ordinary.
Sam: Is that Spider-Man?
Raffi: Or is odd their ordinary?
Sam: Oops.
Umu: Let me continue the script...
When explaining the meaning behind the title "Oddinary",
Stray Kids' leader Bang Chan stated that
"We want to bring the message that everyone has their own special odd inside of them"
The lyrics of 'Maniac' talk about how we often hide our true selves from the world,
cosplaying as what society considers normal - holy sh*t -
but how overtime like dormant volcano...
Kevin: That was so weird.
Umu: ...our true selves will come exploding out.
The member Han also added
"We made this out of hopes that people will start to show themselves to others to their hearts content."
This song is composed by three Stray Kids members also known as 3RACHA
named Bang Chan, Ch(angbin)(H)an, Han -
f#%k
Bang Chan, Han and Changbin
Raffi: That's his name?
Umu: I just combined all of them at once - and 베르사최. (Raffi: That's interesting.)
Sam: I don't think I've heard that Korean name before.
Raffi: Yeah neither have I?
Umu: HA "Chan"?
Sam: No, "f#%k".
Umu: Oh, hahaha
Ju Young: Okay, 3 2 1
Kevin: Yyyyeah!
Raffi: I feel like I'm listening to Lebanese music.
Sam: Damn, that was an Arcane effect just now.
Will: Wow, like fully side chained.
Jory: That's lit.
Kevin: In unison.
Umu: Eyyy!
Jory: I love that synth sound.
Sam: Oh that's interesting, that synth is really behind the beat.
Raffi: Mm.
Jason: That is a good usage of the low voice doubling.
Umu: OoooOOoh!
Kevin: Choreo on point.
Umu: All they did was just add in a bass and everything changed.
Will: Woah. Jory: Hohoho.
Kevin: WoooOO!
Jason: Never, never ready for how low that guy's voice is.
It's crazy.
Kevin: Wooooaaaaaaaoooowww
Umu: Okay!
Kevin: The heat has been turned up.
Umu: Hello phrygian dominant!
*Jason+Umu singing scale*
Jason: Like that whole...
Liam: Swingin'! Mm!
Will: That's a really fat synth line. Jory: That's so rad
Jory: I like the swing! Will: Woo!
Kevin: It's like even the grace note is changing the rhythm a little bit.
Will: Uh!
Jason: I love that bass hit just drop down.
Sam: Dang, these- I never talk about video effects,
but these video effects are so sick!
Raffi: Yeah.
Kevin: Uh, they're like kinda singing, kinda rapping.
Umu: Yeah.
Kevin: The bird.
Whoa, the bird followed by the low voice is insane.
Raffi: It's really using a lot of extremes, high timbre, low timbre.
Sam: Yeah.
Raffi: Light and deep.
Jory: That's some pretty cool synth too.
Umu: I like the really dry, warm claps.
Jason: "Ooooh~" - we get that, oh, we got a nice like sus and 7 in there.
Liam: Oh, the panning on that, it's-
Oooh!
That's good.
Liam: That harmony was nice. Rachel: his voice is so good.
Jason: Ooh nice. Yeah!
Stephanie: Are those flying pizzas?
Wait, what?!
Raffi: I like the layering, like they brought in a little bit more.
Sam: Yeah.
Jory: That f#%king power drill!
What are you looking at-? Oh.
Leon: Damn, they're gonna kill the bird with that thing?
Stephanie: Whaaaaat?!
Umu: I don't think that's the message, Leon.
Leon: Oh, okay okay, thank god.
Will: That went so hard. Jory: Super sick. That went really hard.
Rachel: It just goes hard, I don't know what else to say.
Will: That was interesting because that's like, I think that's a-
I've never heard a melody like that before, I don't think.
Jory: Really?
Will: I don't know, I mean there was just kinda some- the way, Jory: It was the countermelody though,
Will: The way it like moved around, Jory: That's what was sick.
Will: like it was at a really wide range
and the feel was super cool
and the synth tone itself was super cool.
Jory: Yeah, it's sick. Will: Yeah, what, like I can't even quantify in my head what it...
Will: *Bum ba bwa bowow* [t/n: Here we go again...]
*BWaA boo wowow*
*Bum ba bwa bowow*
*Wow↗ wow wow WOOoo↘*
Raffi: I kept hearing, once you said the synth was behind the beat, that's like-
I was was listening for it a lot.
Raffi: Cuz it makes you viscerally want to like move forward.
It keeps- it's like reverse psychology.
Liam: The cool thing that they do with the rhythm,
like between the verses and the chorus,
is that most of the verse stuff is swung
and they go to straight 8ths in the chorus.
It's kinda tying into that theme,
it's almost like more authentic when it goes to straight 8ths,
if that makes any sense?
Like it's straighter, more direct, I don't know. (Umu: Ooooooooooh~)
Liam: I might be reading a little bit too much into it but... Umu: If we talk about a loose...
Liam: Loose screw? Umu: A loose screw...
Liam: I think that's a cool use of rhythmic kinda variation.
Umu: Cuz I was gonna ask how you thought the musical sounds and rhythms
may have related to the concept of revealing your inside maniac
and like revealing your true self while also trying to hide it.
Raffi: I think it's longing though,
like when the synth cuts in and out at the beginning
I think it forces your brain to be like, parts are missing.
Umu: Yeah, the side chain, so it was like coming in and out. (Raffi: Yeah)
Raffi: Yeah I guess it is, it was like hindering the sound.
Umu: Oh and it's just like your inside coming, wanting to peek out. Raffi: Which, it's like if you're hindering yourself, you know?
Jory: And the feel is super nice. I like the swing a lot. (Will: Oh yeah)
Will: I think that's kind of like, that's kind of straight.
But then here, *t-ge t-ge t-ge...*
Jory: Yeah, so it's like the beat drop, the verses are always swung.
I love how it's jumping octaves too.
[First try.]
No.
[#2]
No.
[#3]
Will: Is it- is it- like what's the first note?
Jory: It's an A♭.
Will: Oh, it's just the octave? Jory: Yeah.
Jory: Oh!
Yeah, it jumps another octave.
[#4+]
No.
[t/n: I lost count]
Jory: Oh no, it only goes to E♭ the first time.
Will: Oh! *Gow gow go gow go gow go ge ge ge gow...* Jory: Yeah yeah yeah.
Jory: That's so hip, man.
Will: Yeah, it's so killing.
Jory: It's like really sick.
[t/n: Final rendition?]
Will: No!
Jory: That's lit. Umu: No yeah yeah yeah.
Will: I wonder what are the chords in that section too?
Oh yeah, well that's killing.
Oh, and then *Ba dey dana!*
That's like the major 7.
Jory: Yeah, that's why it works so well.
Jory: I love that it goes to the C♯.
Will: Oh.
Oh - *bwou da* - yeah!
Oh yeah yeah, and the chord is B! (Jory: Right)
The chord is this, you know, and then it goes [add9]
Whew~
Jory: Yeah! Will: Ah~
Kevin: I think the last chorus could have gone a little more,
just did something even more with it.
It felt like by the very end they didn't stick the landing quite
but I still thing the song is very very good.
Umu: I didn't expect more because the buildup to the last chorus wasn't hinting at something.
Kevin: Right, that's true.
Umu: So for me it was satisfying
because it didn't go like *du-du tsh-tsh dddrrrrlllll*, you know?
Kevin: Maybe I was thinking like in 'Back Door' you know?
They have the part, the *Duh duh*, just something, (Umu: Yeah, they actually have new material.)
Kevin: A new perspective, exactly.
Yeah, I think if the bridge didn't repeat the "Maniac" in half time...
Umu: So good~
Kevin: Yeah- if they didn't repeat that
I think the last chorus would have felt better?
But I think they used that in the bridge and so that's why I just-
I just wish they could have changed it up a bit. (Umu: Okay, yeah.)
Ju Young: I expected a bigger chorus.
But I think it was nice just having like, there was a lot of rap in this.
When you go to the second verse
they add in more rhythmic variety there and
I think a lot of this song was playing with rhythm and just, you know...
Umu: I mean they are changing up their form
because usually they have the rappers in the verses,
singing in the pre-chorus,
they flipped that for this.
Ju Young: Like it kind of plays with my mind because it's like, this is,
like I was expecting more like maniac and more like mayhem and more craziness to it
but then it was very subtle for some reason...
(Jason: I get that, I get that, yeah.) // (Umu: Clean.) Ju Young: And it was very clean
(Jason: With the concept they chose) Ju Young: and I was like,
maybe they're going for the American psycho thing
where the dude looks normal but then in reality he's like really messed up...
Jason: Maybe the term "maniac" isn't supposed to mean like psychopathic,
maybe it's just more like, "We're all a little nutty", like...
Umu: You got it Jason.
Jason: Yeah, rather than anything super intense,
I didn't pay attention to the words as much
but there was one bit, one word I liked,
it said, "Relax everyone stop pretending to be normal"
That's a cool one cuz it's like
everybody is so high-strung about fitting into the social norms of things,
there's a very intense and kinda snooty sense of like
you have to be a certain way, you know?
And one of my favorite things is when an artist
or anybody in any profession can say
"Oh you said not to do this and this and this, okay."
"Well, I'm going to do it."
"And I'm gonna make it better than what you're doing."
"Because it's my own thing."
Which, I love that.
Leon: I really like their synth.
Umu: Ooh~ The drop or, which synth?
Leon: Just every kind of synth.
Umu: Oh, the entire synth. All of the synth. Leon: The entire synth, all of the synth!
Leon: Like the bass synth, the lead, like everything,
all the sounds are well designed.
Sam: I just think it's really creative how they use different like tactile sounds,
not necessarily even like MIDI or digital sounds
but just like sounds of objects to create their drop.
And I feel as though in a lot of Stray Kids' songs
they get a lot of their kinetic energy from their beat drops [t/n: E=½mv² (classical)]
or from their, like their hype, so to speak.
I feel as though they've showcased the ability to create those drops in a lot of different ways,
the one that I enjoy the most is the 'Back Door' drop.
In this one it's really interesting because
it was introduced by a bird and then a drill
and then the rhythm was very much like up and down for the chorus
along with, I noticed that the vocals in the back were
really harping on the major third, as opposed to the minor third,
throughout the verses, so it's...
there is just so many different ways that they differentiate the verse and the chorus
and I feel as though that they separated so rigidly
with that tactile object sound.
And that's just super creative cuz you don't really hear a lot of that.
When you listen to some songs,
a lot of producers want to create a thread
so that way it's kind of like, "Oh, we wanna keep building up energy,"
build up energy, build up energy, ...
so that way when you get to the chorus
it feels like one big roller coaster,
as opposed to this song where there's just a separation of sound
and then there's all the energy.
It's a risk that reaps such good benefits in this song.
Umu: So I think my favorite part about this is,
Stray Kids are always very smart with
selecting how to bring back specific motifs or develop on them,
and so for in the...
pre-chorus??
Pre-chorus?
I don't know what this is!
Rachel: ♭2? I don't remember.
Liam: Yeah, I think it was phrygian, right?
Liam: And then there was like some major- yeah. Umu: With the occasional raised 3.
Liam: That makes sense. Rachel: That sh*t cool.
Umu: That sh*t very cool.
It's like in every single K-pop song.
Rachel: Yeah, I've been noticing that... Liam: Really, phrygian is everywhere.
Rachel: It's everywhere.
Umu: Cuz it has that darkness and then once you add that major 3
you can add so many colors in.
Liam: Mm. Rachel: Yeah.
Liam: No, it makes a lot of sense.
Umu: We played with the sound...
it sounds, it might be a shenai,
or it might be some sort of synth instrument in the pre-chorus,
enough so that it sounds kind of like a synth,
kind of like a traditional instrument,
and it's very muted, and then it, you know like...
30 seconds pass and then we bring in a vocal melody
that rests on the major 3 while the instrumental plays the ♭2.
So we know that it's still phrygian dominant.
Kevin: It's- all together it's more subtle.
Umu: Yes!
Can we also talk about the harmonic shift into the bridge?
Jory: "Maniac~"
Jory: This is the same key. Will: Where did it go? It goes to the same key,
Jory: It goes to an E, I think, right? Will: but there's some interesting colors in there.
Will: Oooh~
Jory: Yeah.
And then A♭, like major.
Jory: I love that like little "Maniac"
and just like this guy at the bottom of his voice.
Will: Maniac~ [d e e p v o i c e]
Umu: Wow. Jory: That's nuts!
Will: Whoo~
Umu: Hahahaha!
Will: Maniac~
Jory: Oh sh*t.
Jory: Yeah... Will: Maniac~
Umu: Oh no your microphone.
Will: Oh yeah.
Jory: Oh yeah~ Will: Maniac
Mm~
A♭!
Liam: Wait, what? Umu: Can you do it?
[t/n: Anticipation...]
[nope]
Rachel: Go ahead, keep going!
Liam: Maniac~
I tried.
I don't got the breath support.
I don't know if it like fully commits to that though, like it...
It kinda sounded like the 6th was in there,
but it still resolved to A♭ minor,
it was just like with the add6.
Hold on...
It's just so soft and subtle.
Yeah, that I have no idea where it goes,
it felt like, was it this?
No.
Jason: Mm. :|
Liam: I have no idea what happens!
I can't hear it!
Why can't I figure this out...
[Eadd9]
Jason: Yeah, that's what it is.
Because you have [G♯] panned in the left ear,
which would- because the bass is in E,
and there's the panned G♯s in the left ear,
and there's a B in there, which would just be that [E major]
but I'm hearing like a [E add9 or, depending on voicing, add2],
I'm hearing an F♯ somewhere.
Umu: What kind of vibe or color or emotion
does having that kind of harmony add to that one spot,
Umu: like why did that one... Jason: Oh yeah, it like makes- it's perfect.
For anything, if you have like-
cuz they did two- they did like a,
and they could have just went [E]
but they went,
and they had just this [Eadd9]
Jason: I don't know if that's what it is,
but just having that kind of different bass note that's not in the triad,
there becomes a tension of like a...
you know, there's dissonance because
if it's not in the triad then it's obviously like a note that has,
which isn't regular to the ear, like it's kind of like dissonant,
but if it's in the bass there's like this lengthening of the tension
so that it's easier for you to hear and it becomes more of like a...
the tension becomes like this,
it wraps around the chord.
Ju Young: Kind of like on cloud nine or something.
Jason: Yeah. The note hits when the bird flies away
Jason: and as time goes by it's eventually revealed, an epiphany moment.
Liam: Where does it go after that?
We're like so close!
We're so close here!
Ooooh~
Oh my god!
Liam: That, that is awesome! Rachel: Good sh*t.
WhAT?!
Umu: Why is it awesome, Liam?
Liam: I don't know.
I don't know, it's like kind of drifting into that major III, major VI world
like that color, which is super different from that [1-♭2-♭7 before],
that kind of stable thing that we've had for the whole song,
so it does kinda feel like you're suspended in a different world,
and you get that from the music video as well,
and then they just kind of subtly bring you back into that,
towards the end, and then they go
*Bwa*!
Rachel: Yeahhh~
Liam: Dude, that was awesome.
Bang Chan: It's just cool to have a very very,
like proper classical version of the songs,
which just felt really really cool.
Kevin: Um, so,
what about the followup album,
"Extradinary"?
Hey, #6 on trending, cool.