LABOUM, HOTSHOT, and CLC?!

"All caps" are the trend, apparently. I sometimes see it as the company trying to get you more curious/excited if they name with groups with all capital letters.

K-Pop groups are sprouting like weeds these past few years, and I mean that in the best possible way. (I can't elaborate, but you're free to use your imagination!) There are few groups that really break into the success margin of K-Pop, let alone scratch the surface. I am sorely disappointed with these next three rookies I'm going to Ramble about-- ahem, I mean review. There's nothing quite there ramble worthy. These three music videos just failed to catch my attention! Some parts were so yawn worthy, I nearly closed the YouTube tab. This is exactly why I've simply stopped getting into the newer groups after 2013.

I'm going to be very blunt and critical in this post, mostly because I've been a K-Pop fan for five years now. You may be wondering: who am I to judge? Well, this is just my opinion. I am in no way trying to force my views on you! But I've seen plenty of topnotch K-Pop groups and heard numerous high quality songs over the years that have increased my standards, and these recycled concepts that these rookies brought are just not my cup of milk tea.

This week's Rambling is about LABOUM, not-so-rookie-group-but-somehow-they-still-are HOTSHOT, rookie girl group CLC!

1.) "Sugar Sugar" by Playhouse Disney... Oh, no I mean: Hi 5! South Korea edition! ...Wait, this is LABOUM??

If you've ever read my first Rambling here, you'll know that I became an instant fan of LABOUM during the "What About You" era. After the announcement that they were coming back with a new single, I was really looking forward to what they had in store!

Unfortunately, I was beyond disappointed with this Playhouse Disney/Hi 5! music video and the generic, cutie girl concept song. Seriously? Was the team that put together "What About You" replaced? It was a such a strong song that could have potentially skyrocketed the LABOUM girls to instant fame! WHY did they decide to completely go south now?

Song
Oh, my goodness. What. In. The. WORLD. is this sad excuse of a song?! I understand that they might have been going for a 50s/60s approach, but this is just plain sad. The song is boring, and most of the lyrics comprise of "no way no way no way", "oh oh oh oh", and "oh boy oh boy oh boy oh oh oh". The little "suga suga suga" bit at the beginning is... *yawn*

I'm not even going to research the lyrics and study the song meaning. We can probably infer what this is about anyways based on the English lyrics I've mentioned up there ^.

Over all, this sounds like something I'd hear during a Playhouse Disney segment for little kids. For real! Put these girls in a colorful set, play this song, call in some young kids, and watch how this suddenly turns into The Wiggles (female version). What happened to the strong girls of "What About You"?

Music Video

Hi 5! meets Playhouse Disney. I don't know how many times I have to stress this enough. The sets are just downright cheap-looking.

Costumes

My eyes hurt. It's like Lisa Frank threw up on these girls during this Polly Pocket/Barbie themed slumber party.

Choreography

BO-RING. This is probably my least favorite part of their comeback. I figured after the great routine of "What About You", the girls would deliver something even more entertaining, but no!

That little butt shake they do at the beginning isn't even in sync, making the dance seem lazily executed. If it were in sync, perhaps it would be more bearable to watch. The happy dance they do during the start of the chorus is plain silly. Can you even call that dancing? A senior citizen could even bust that move! Who even authorized this choreography?

---

In conclusion, this comeback was the worst I've ever seen (out of the groups I follow, of course). This concept does not allow the girls to shine or show us their talents! Instead, they come off as all-face-no-talent singers. I know they're capable of so much more than this, so why did the company choose to go for a boring song, a cheap music video, and a silly dance routine???

I even checked out the rest of the songs on their album, and it sounds like these were the songs that the producers trashed, but, for the sake of making this comeback an "album", they resurrected these tracks and added them on after all. Sigh. I had high hopes. I'll check back on LABOUM after this "Sugar Sugar" rush settles down (if you can even call it a "rush", because there is nothing to get excited about over this comeback).

Song: 2/5
Music Video: 2/5
Costumes: 3/5
Choreography: 1/5
---------------------------------
Final Score: 8/20
Gee Rating: Nope nope nope


2.) "Midnight Sun" by HOTSHOT

So, apparently this is HOTSHOT's comeback song. Believe me when I say I was completely lost when I saw this article show up in my Twitter feed. "Whoa whoa, these guys are having a COMEBACK? I didn't even know this group existed in the first place!"

Song

We gon' get up, we gon' get loud

Come on get up, it's gonna get wild

Hmm. Judging by this video, when exactly is anything gonna get "loud" or "wild"?

What up DJ? Turn me up!

.... Come again? I've tried looking up the English translation of the lyrics, but I can't seem to find them anywhere on the internet... and usually there's at least ONE site out of the many translation web pages that contain the lyrics. Maybe this indicates how unknown these guys still are (?). Sorry not sorry.

The song is generic for a boy group. I don't feel like getting "loud", much less getting "up".

Music Video
The video is somewhat reminiscent of Big Bang's "Bad Boy". The silver lining between them,
however, is how the they were done. "Midnight Sun" doesn't speak to me at all. It seems very low budget, and it doesn't even match the upbeat vibe of the song! I would have placed these guys at some hip and happein' place, instead of walking around the city in slow mo or loitering around.

Costumes
The boy next door look is a plus. The outfits are very familiar, so nothing quite stands out to me.

---

Unfortunately, HOTSHOT was a HOT MISS for this comeback. The music video just seems tired, and we see ZERO choreography. If there were a dance routine to go with it, or at least shots of it in the video, perhaps this group would be able to earn a few more points.

Song: 2/5
Music Video: 2/5
Costumes: 3/5
---------------------------------
Final Score: 7/15
Gee Rating: Not my cup of milk tea



3.) "Pepe" by CLC

CLC is a five member girl group that has just recently debuted under Cube Entertainment. Their name kept reminding me of TLC, but CLC apparently stands for Crystal Clear. I would have just gone with Crystal Clear, really. CLC makes me think of an antibiotic. It does not scream K-Pop to me, or "singing group" for that matter.

Out of the three artists I'm reviewing in this post, CLC is probably the one I'll have good things to say about.

Song

Alright. So the "hubiruae pe pe pero" in the chorus is throwing me off. What is it supposed to mean? I figured "hubiruae" meant something, but no. The lyric is translated straight into "hubiruae". Seriously? I have a feeling they chose "pepe" as the song title simply because it sounds cute to their listeners. What a turnoff. -Points for that. And the "lalalala" at the end has been used so many times in songs, it just seems like filler lyrics. It's almost as if the producers ran out of ideas, so they decided to use that instead.

The song is about how the boy they like is immature. Long story short, it's catchy but not strong enough if you're going for a "unique" factor.

Music Video

The set is quite different, almost as if the rooms are connected and rotating. +Points for the creativity. The white room where the girls are wearing the blue dresses, though.... Meh. Not so creative. We've seen that countless times for girl groups. Despite the plain white and black sets, I have to say this MV looks a whole lot more better than the previous ones in this post. At least some good money was spent on the sets!

Costumes

My favorite outfits are probably the ones they wear lounging around in the colorful rooms, and the pink varsity jackets. The white and blue dresses remind me too much of Apink. The white outfits in the black set are too plain. These costumes are nothing of an eyesore, but they're simple enough to appreciate... so I'll give them points for that.

Choreography

Their dance routine definitely is my favorite part of this debut. The girls are energetic and you can tell they're putting a lot of effort into the dance. It's snappy, sassy, and it suits the quirky-ness of the song.

While their debut didn't wow me, CLC may be a tough rookie to face in the K-Pop market with a little polishing and stronger songs. I sense they have potential to pull off the tough girl concept, but for now we'll just have to sit tight with this song. They've just debuted a few days ago, after all.

Song: 2.5/5

Music Video: 3/5
Costumes: 3/5
Choreography: 3.5/5
---------------------------------
Final Score: 12/20
Gee Rating: It's okay

Next Rambling: (Hopefully) The Rambling Special!