[Album & MV Review] 4TEN - 'Jack of All Trades'

AKP STAFF

4TEN � JACK OF ALL TRADES

Track List:
1. Tornado
2. Severely
3. OOO
4. Why
5. Go Easy

4TEN debuted in 2014 under Jungle Entertainment. After lineup changes, name changes, and a handful of singles, they are once again known as 4TEN and back with a mini-album chock full of their past releases, plus two new ones. 'Jack of All Trades' is their first mini-album.

"Tornado" is 4TEN's debut single from 2014. It has an insistent keyboard riff along with synth washes and a distinctly lonely feel. The song unfortunately lacks oomph. It is by-the-numbers Kpop, and that is precisely the problem -- there's not enough there to distinguish it. Besides, I hear the refrain as "You're just like a tomato." :) The song is actually about a lying, cheating jerk.

"Severely" is the title track. Now this track pops. The girls take center stage with a bold style as an electric guitar blazes in the background. The vocals are more brazen and insolent from the pseudo-rap in the beginning to the chorus and beyond. The bridge is nicely done, too, a time-change with some nice vocal stylings. The song is, fittingly, about them being angry with the guy and plotting revenge.

"OOO," the other new song, starts like a ballad, starting with tinkling bells and a strummed guitar, but turns into a sort of popped-up folk tune, which you can easily clap and sing along with. It's pretty, and the English isn't fail, either. The rap at the end helps make it even more killer. Essentially the girls are promising they'll be there for the guy.

Their second single, "Why," has more of a retro style, but it has a rap and is brassier than "Tornado." I like the way this flows, even as it seemed to suffer from some of the same flaws. The song has the girls asking why they don't know their own hearts, and goes through the various stages of infatuation until they come to know they like the guy. �

"Go Easy" is their single from 2015, and is even better. It's got a more mature style; the song feels fuller and is more satisfying than their debut track. I am fairly well impressed with this track, even though it was still slightly flat. I figured with a little tweaking these girls could go a long way. Lyrically, the song is telling the guy to slow down and not move so fast with her.

I love this album, because it's a timeline of their singles, plus a couple new ones. You can clearly trace the evolution of the band from their debut to 2015 and lineup and name changes to all the way to the present, as they got stronger songwriters, or maybe the songwriters got better. No matter, I like their newer output, and that's what counts. I can't wait to find out what else they have in store for us.

MV REVIEW

Watch the girls of 4TEN get their revenge on a guy in "Severely!"

While a lot of the shots are simply "look at me, I'm hot," there's also a plot in here. The guy in the song has now become the guy in the MV, and he gets a bat taken to his car, is taken to a hair salon where they threaten him with straight razors, and come after him with flairs. Remind me never to get them mad.

The costumes here are meant to draw the male gaze, but they do so well. The girls of 4TEN are beautiful, there's no denying that. Other than that, the apparel is brightly colored and even ostentatious, but often that works pretty well on a gal (they seem to be able to get away with more costume weirdness than guys).

The dancing is not too bad. There's whirls, drops, and so forth, but there seems to be an absence of footwork, like the choreographer was bored or frustrated. They don't do too badly with the moves they were given, though.

Overall, it's not the best MV, and it was obviously shot on a budget, but I think the filmmakers did a good job of filming it and making it look halfway interesting. The revenge angle was a nice touch, too, since that was the point of the song. The girls looked pretty hot, so there's a selling point for the straight guy. Overall it was decent; not incredible, but watchable.�

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