[Album & MV Review] SF9 - 'Feeling Sensation'

AKP STAFF

SF9 -- FEELING SENSATION

Tracklist:

Fanfare
K.O.
Together

FNC unveils their new male dance group SF9. The rookie boy band debuts with their 3-song EP 'Feeling Sensation.' This is an unconventional move for FNC, who traditionally has rock bands in their stable. Leader Young Bin, In Seong, Jae Yoon, Da Won, Ro Woon, Zu Ho, Tae Yang, Hwi Young and Cha Ni won Mnet's 'd.o.b: Dance or Band,' and debuted through FNC's rookie training program Neoz School. The band's name stands for "Sensational First 9."

With a cacophonous noise, "Fanfare" starts out this musical trio. It's one of those impossibly catchy songs, where every verse brings some new hook. This is the sweet spot where dance-pop succeeds�and does so admirably. The only quibble I have is with the English chorus, where they mangle 'fanfare' as 'panpalli.' The irony is it's a large part of what makes the song so catchy.

You might think they'd dial it down for the next song, but "K.O." is anything but dialed down. With the awesome hooks "go, go,we go psycho" and "go crazy, go crazy, K.O., knockdown, take it over, take it" this song had me going crazy for it. In some ways, I like this one better than the title track. Taeyang commands the high notes here, and gives the song some variation. Not like it needs it -- the repetition is its strength.

"Together" is where the band flirts with softer tones. Delivering a soothing smoothness, they express their love for a girl. It's basic, and pretty much hits all the right notes, even if it's entirely familiar. My main issue with this one is that it's sort of by-the-numbers, and didn't really stand out to me.

This isn't a bad collection of songs, but it's also really short. There's just enough here to get a taste of the band, but what a taste! The boys know how to deliver -- the vocals here are smooth in some places, but mostly just edgy and raw, which is what I prefer. If they can keep this same quality, I predict nothing but good things from FNC's new rookie group.

MV REVIEW

The boys turn out to be bad boys in the edgy MV "Fanfare."

Truthfully there's not a strong narrative to this. The closest thing I can think of is they're on the run after tagging the school. Towards the end, there's a bomb that spews impossible amounts of confetti instead of exploding, and it's all kind of a mess.

But that's not what they're here for. They're a dance group, and the majority of the MV is taken up by their slick moves. I'm not sure, but I think I've seen some of those moves before. But they appear confident, especially when they all line up while dancing. You'd think it takes intense practice to get all 9 in sync, but they are up to the challenge.

Frankly, It's not bad, if a little confusing. The images come fast and furious, and the whole thing moves at a good pace. The edits don't linger at all, so there's no time to get bored. This MV should be received with plenty of fanfare.