Maybe this should be titled “Why ‘Regular’ rubs me the wrong way.” Something about it doesn’t sit right with me, like I’m watching my kids grow up and start hanging out with questionable friends.

To understand why, let’s go on a quick tour of NCT 127’s title tracks.

Firetruck

Rumor has it, Taeyong’s childhood dream was to become a firefighter. With “Firetruck,” SM Entertainment made that happen, in a sense. It’s a club-type dance song, with a fire fighter theme, but it’s difficult to believe that the theme was pure coincidence considering that Taeyong trained with SM for so long, and he’s one of the rappers that they’re actively encouraging to take an interest in crafting song lyrics.

 

Limitless

This is one of my favorite fashion eras, mostly because of Taeil’s shark jacket there on the far right.

To me, “Limitless” is the type of song that you would repeat to yourself like a mantra. It is the perfect type of song for a group that is just debuting, hungry (excuse me, thirsty) for acceptance, love, and fame. It’s disguised as a love song (“oh baby it’s you”), but the main theme is about working hard for your dreams and the limitless potential spread out in front of you.

They were all chasing dreams while being deceived
Most of them only consider themselves as the real deal
Or else they hide with their backs turned
The repeating days are so cruel

Lies stick, they are sticky
In this gray city, it ain’t got a chance
I wondered when the future was gonna come
But it’s in front of my eyes now

 

Cherry Bomb

“I’m the biggest hit / I’m the biggest hit on the stage.” This is another song that gathers momentum, that speaks into existence what NCT 127 wants to be. It carries multiple messages—that the boys are ready for their songs to hit the world like an explosion, that the haters can come at them and they’re ready. “Cherry Bomb” is intense and explosive, with words, music, and choreo all reflecting one central theme.

 

Touch

Touch doesn’t exist in my world. It’s a typical “imagine me as your boyfriend”song. More importantly, it was the overt signal that proved that SM decided to crash the NCT concept (although arguably it happened first with the Japanese version of “Limitless”), giving the soft theme to 127 instead of the group’s usual urban-inspired vibe. The song sounds really corporate to me, very much like the Coke ad they did predebut. I dislike it on multiple levels.

Moving on.

 

Chain

With their Japanese release, however, NCT 127 was back to their normal tricks.

A factor that’s yet to be born (it’s a factor)
The hearts resonating in symphony are a medium (by the medium)
Make a wish, change the reality (we want to)
Get me started, the chain begins now

Chain! Reaction
The chain spreads
Chain! Reaction
From here on, the world is connecting

World domination, creating a great future for themselves, growing as artists…this is the NCT I like. One of the things that I like most about following NCT as a fledgling group of k-pop acts is that their ambition mirrors mine. I find a lot of what I want to do reflected in their songs, in their chord progressions and intensity and even in the wtf-ery of their Limitless-era styling (like clickbait but for clothes).

Most of their songs seemed really authentic to me, coming from a place of wanting to grow as entertainers, to win over fans and haters alike. Even though 90% of k-pop songs are created through the Pop Machine—very few of them are “heartfelt” in the singer/songwriter use of the word—the songs resonated with the group and their goals.

It probably helps that Mark and Taeyong write most of their own rap lyrics.

On my part, perhaps it is too much to expect a young group to sing about their bright and glorious future for too much longer. Clearly at some point the lyrics would have to evolve, and to change.

What I was not expecting was “Regular.”

Disclaimer: this emotional whiplash (heh) is probably fueled by NCT Dream’s latest mini-album, which featured the track “Dear Dream.” This song is almost 100% written by the members, is super heartfelt, and legit makes me cry. It is genuine, real feelings.

“Regular” is not genuine, real feelings. “Regular” is a song that flexes just for the sake of it. Somehow I’m supposed to believe that NCT 127 has gone from “make a wish, we want to change reality” to “I just made a million and I’m still not satisfied”?

These are not the boys that I know. Even if NCT 127 is super-successful now and they’re rolling in money, this doesn’t feel genuine to them. It feels like they’re playing parts. Even the bits that I want to like, such as Mark walking his pet tiger in the MV, make me cringe instead.

These are boys I want to root for, and the fake swag makes it really hard to do that.

I’m still holding out hope. “Regular” is the English-language version of the title track for their upcoming full album, and there will also be a Korean-language version. Apparently the Korean version is on the “regular” section of the album, and the English version is on the “irregular” section of the album—the dreamlike part.

Because all the teasers have been wrapped around a dualistic office drone/after hours type of theme, perhaps this is just in keeping with the extravagant dreams of an office worker.

Maybe the concept will make it work. Until the full album comes out, I cringe.

 

Update: After a few more listens and watching some reaction videos—specifically this one from PD at Form of Therapy—I’m becoming more comfortable with “Regular” as a concept for NCT 127. There are some execution-related points that I didn’t take into account that change the context of all this:

  • The English-language version isn’t cringey at allll. The boy’s pronunciation is pretty spot-on. The lyrics are mostly good, and bits that are a little rougher aren’t any worse than comparable American lyrics. (Which is not great—this is why I listen to k-pop, people.)
  • The concept is the dream of success, from a group that is starting to get some. I really can’t hate that.
  • The video makes the boys look really, really good.

Overall, it’s a decent American debut.

Personally, though, I can’t get into it. Back when “Boss” came out, I didn’t love it at first either, but it grew on me—the sound engineering is so interesting to listen to. With “Regular,” something about the engineering sounds compressed to me, like their normal range of dynamics is limited (much like circa 2012 pop music) and I’m listening in a fishbowl. It also feels to me like the musical arrangement is monotonous, even though there are different sections that switch up the rhythms and orchestration. I don’t know enough about music theory to tell you why exactly, but that’s how I feel right now.

 

Also, the instrumentation sounds like Latin-inspired elevator music. I expect so much more from SM Entertainment, honestly. SMH.