[Album and MV Review] Girl's Day - 'Love'

AKP STAFF

GIRL'S DAY - 'LOVE'

Track List:
1. With Me
2. Ring My Bell
3. Macaroon
4. Come Slowly
5. Top Girl
6. Darling
7. Whistle
8. Look At Me
9. Something
10. Timing
11. I Miss you
12. Show You
13. Hello Bubble
14. Ring My Bell (Inst.)

Just in time for summer, Girl's Day celebrates their fifth anniversary with their second LP 'Love'! The album features 14 tracks, two-thirds of which are actually songs you've heard before. For the purposes of this review, we'll be doing the first five. The other ones you've heard and are pretty kickin' tracks. So how does the rest of the album hold up?

We kick off with "With Me," a club banger that is definitely body-moving. Sort of a cross between "Expectation" and "Hug Me" with a bit of "Something" thrown in, this song has a little more than you might expect. I love how the verses have a sense of anticipation, building to a chorus that shows off the girls' powerful vocals.

Not as excited about "Ring My Bell." Of course, it achieved an all-kill, so what do I know? I can't tell you if it was intentional, but the song sounds a lot like "Excuse Me" by BESTie. Long Candy and Duble Sidekick are credited on both songs, making me think this was far from accidental. Not a bad song overall, but also not the best on the album.

"Macaroon" is a bouncy track that has a neo-retro groove like we heard on 'Everyday #4.' It starts with a blasting sax that we hear hints of throughout the song. Upbeat and playful, catchy and dancable, it is classic Girl's Day. �

The next track is a ballad, "Come Slowly," but it has sort of a mid-tempo beat to it. Like most of this band's ballads, each girl manages to show an emotional range without losing control or getting overwrought. Silky and soothing, it's a nice switch from the other higher-tempo tracks around it.

"Top Girl" is the last new track and is a high-tempo discofied tune, probably the one I would have used as a single. It's catchy, high-tempo, and really shows off the power of Minah's pipes. High-energy and exciting in the vein of their previous mega hits, it's a seriously awesome track.

Rounding out the last two thirds of the album are all previously released material. In case you didn't get enough "Hello Bubble" and "Something" the first time you heard those tracks, now they're all in one place.

I was a bit disappointed to find that this disc had mostly re-packaged tunes, but I shouldn't be too surprised given their track record. Still, any new tune from Girl's Day is a good thing to these ears, especially during the summer, and I can think of few better presents for my birthday.

MV REVIEW

Say what you will, but this video aims for one thing: to take you on a rollercoaster ride.

We get treated to plenty of shots of the girls in smoking hot outfits as they dance in what may well be a casino. The DJ's got dartboards behind him, and most of the backgrounds (barring the funky mirrored spirals) are something out of a vegas floor show. And it works extremely well. �

The girls' costumes are particularly awesome. While nothing I'd advocate wearing to the mall, these brightly colored outfits and high-contrast outfits serve to further draw the eye.

And whatever they did to Sojin's hair, undo it, please. Ugh. Very few k-pop stars can pull off blonde hair (AOA's ChoA comes to mind), but this dye job just looked off.

The dancing is okay, but nothing special. It's appropriate, and you see a few moves from other Girl's Day offerings. There's not a whole lot of butt action (and if you look closel, you'll see they pat their hips during the chorus) and that is commendable. In the age where butt dances seem to be the norm, it's refreshing to see something else.

The song, while I'm not a fan, is insanely catchy, and grows on you after a time. Along with the video, it's 3 minutes of straight fun start to end.

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