[Album and MV Review] UNIQ - 'EOEO'

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UNIQ - EOEO

Track List:

01. EOEO
02. Luv Again
03. Listen To Me
04. Falling In Love
05. Born To Fight

The Chinese-Korean boy band UNIQ has dropped their first mini-album 'EOEO.' Produced by Yuehwa and trained by YG, they made their debut last year with a single and spot on the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie soundtrack. One of their members, Seungyeon, wrote the lyrics to every track except the last.

The title track is an uneven mess. It starts out rather amateurish -- I can't stand the delivery here, and the flow is off. It picks up again with an annoying falsetto chorus, which seems tacked on, and is repeated enough times to completely turn me off this track.

The next song is "Luv Again," a hip-hop/pop tune with a primly-strummed guitar. It starts out a bit slow, but picks up quickly with falsetto croons and some sick raps. Whatever I didn't like on the first track is noticeably absent here -- and it's refreshing.

"Listen to Me" straddles the line between dubstep and pop. Dance-floor hooks characterize this hybrid tune, as well as some breathless raps. This is the kind of song that usually gets put on my gym playlist. There's smooth, earwormy choruses, and just try not to sing along: "Give it to me now!"

Coming up next is the group's debut single "Falling in Love," co-written by member Sungjoo. This is more straightforward pop, but it has still has a noticeable synth line, and a very singable chorus. Well-grounded in k-pop conventions, it is an enjoyable listen.

Last but not least is "Born To Fight," the theme song for the Korean release of the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie. Riding the razor's edge between silliness and badassery, it's hard to deny they killed it on this track. Sadly, it is also the only song on the disc that Seungyeon didn't have a hand in.

This album is absolutely packed with sick hooks, singalong choruses, and body-moving jams. For a beat junkie like me, this is the kind of album I relish. Despite the misfire in the beginning, this album grabbed hold of me once it hit its stride and didn't let up til the end. Don't be fooled by the apparent low rating -- it averages my MV scores into the final for an aggregate. If you're a fan of slick, accessible hip-hop, pick this up, you won't be disappointed.

MV REVIEW

Okay. Wow. I've never seen so many cliches referenced in one video. There's the generic loading dock scene with the fence and dangling lights. Rapping in front of a stack of speakers. Rapping in front of a bank of TVs. Look! There's a pyramid flooded with light. Now it's dark, but the bars are glowing. There's walls with bulbs embedded in them. And we have the the glowing body paint that we've seen in so many hip hop videos. I know they were trying to switch it up, but, in doing so, pretty well highlighted everything that was wrong with that approach. The only thing we're missing is a cool car for them to dance around. The part with the fiery letters was kinda cool, I'll give 'em that.

And it didn't help that the song did nothing for me.

This is not to say the band didn't do a great job as they swaggered and gestured and danced through the whole thing. As a matter of fact, the boys' performance was spot on, and one of the things that kept me watching. It's just that, as a whole, the MV is a mess to my eyes, but I have a feeling I'm not the one they're trying to please.

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