nct 127 – Batfort

Tag: nct 127 (page 1 of 2)

Why I haven’t reviewed NCT 127 WAKEY WAKEY

Short answer:

Japan.

Long answer:

Because I wasn’t watching YouTube (or other short-form streaming video) during most of the month of March, I had no way to access the ‘Wakey Wakey’ video when it was first released. And because for whatever reason SM Entertainment/Avex records (SM’s proxy in Japan) didn’t release the whole album until later…I didn’t have access it on Spotify until like, last week.

Okay, great.

“But now that it’s on Spotify,” you ask, “why don’t you review it? Even without the video! You did that with Chen’s solo album a while back.”

Real answer:

Once I finally found it, I listened to ‘Wakey Wakey’ (or W2, as I’ll call it in the rest of this post). Then I listened to it again. And just now, I gave it a third chance.

I think you know where I’m going with this.

W2 is not my cup of tea. Which is a shame, because with a name like ‘Wakey Wakey’ it would be really fun if it were the kind of song that you could blast in the mornings with a cup of coffee.

This song reminds me of ‘Regular’ crossed with Hitchhiker x Taeyong’s ‘Around’ with a little sprinkling of ‘Chain’ on top. Unlike ‘Around,’ though, which has a delightful sense of humor and makes me laugh every single time, W2 is just…relentless.

The same tight melodic range (read: NO melodic range) of ‘Regular’ combined with the high synth sample? No thank you.

One of the hard parts of being a fan of a group while they’re actively building a sound and a fanbase is that they’re going to keep exploring. What you initially liked about them may not be where they ultimately end up.

There’s a beauty in staying open, and giving a young group the space to grow and explore. That’s what I tell myself, at least.

For every ‘Regular,’ there’s a ‘Simon Says.’

Taeyong is an aesthetic unto himself

2019-01-11 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Just when you thought he couldn’t look even more like an anime character…

Taeyong of NCT at the 2019 Idol Star Athletic Championship

He goes and matches himself to the field and the NCT lightstick. SMH.

My eyes are happy to look at the reds and greens and neon yellows, all nicely saturated and balanced. Even the vaguely repeating stripes of the track and his tracksuit scream harmony. This picture is so complete. There’s nothing superfluous or distracting, simply great content. And you can imagine him skipping along, hair bouncing.

Taeyong has long been known for looking like an anime character. His bleach-white hair in NCT’s debut video (“The Seventh Sense“) started comparisons to the character Jack Frost. Taeyong responded by dressing as Jack Frost for SM Entertainment’s annual Halloween party. The next year, he went as a Cardcaptor Sakura character.

Gotta love a guy who knows his strengths and plays to them.

Regulate, Regular-Irregular, and NCT 127’s magnificent SIMON SAYS

2018-11-27 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

With the release of the repack album Regulate and its single “Simon Says,” NCT 127 completes the Regular-Irregular cycle.

“Cycle” seems like the wrong word to use. It calls up Wagner and epics and possibly Vikings. This is just k-pop. And yet, it fits.

Perhaps this is because with the “Simon Says” video, we loop back to the very first teasers for “Regular.” Our group, as office workers, dreaming of something better. Fully fledged, those dreams became the “Regular” video.

In “Simon Says,” office dreams have turned into a nightmare.

Or at least a weird fashion dystopia featuring a giant table fit for a cabal of villains.

“Simon Says” is a fabulously NCT 127-type of song. It’s rhythmic, bass-heavy, a little bit grotty, and weird. This is why we like NCT 127, because they provide something different from a typical refined, pre-packaged k-pop release.

For me, standout bits of this song are, in no particular order:

The “fishbowl” mixing effect (similar to “Boss”) with lots of ear candy—there are many layers of distortion and ad libs that blossom when you listen with headphones
Haechan and Taeil lead the vocal line to victory with that bridge—one of the best moments of the song
I love the nod to the choreo (and dystopian concept) of Baekhyn and Loco’s “Young“
The bass. This one bites a little bit harder than “Cherry Bomb” or “Limitless”
Vans with shoelaces tied around everybody’s ankles over their pants
The octaves—seriously, the vocal line killed on this song
Best English line ever: “Bless me, achoo”
I can’t stop dancing to it

The music video wasn’t super-exciting, but I can deal with that. I’d like to get a dance practice video to get a good look at the choreography, but I’m not holding out for a masterpiece. Apparently they learned this choreo in an insanely short amount of time while they were promoting “Regular” in the US.

Side note: I love the timbre of Taeyong’s voice. It has this stretchy, almost creaky texture to it.

Turning to Regulate, the repack album, I prefer the original. The concept and song selection on Regular-Irregular is already fantastic, and I don’t feel like the addition of new songs made it any better. The Korean version of “Chain,” while great (…off the chain, you might say), doesn’t match with the vibe of this album at all. It’s jarring to me, and not in a good way. “Welcome to my Playground” doesn’t grab me.

The one exception is “Simon Says.” It enters at just the right time—directly after the dream-turned-nightmare of the interlude—and that war chant at the beginning helps to set off the “irregular” portion of the album.

Conceptually, this comeback was a success. The overall concept of Regular-Irregular/Regulate is pretty cool, albeit a bit complicated. Hey, it’s NCT. Complication comes with the territory.

Some of the details of execution could have been done better, such as the other b-sides in the repack, but I don’t think they detracted enough from the overall concept to be a problem. The biggest issue, for me, is the title track. I still dislike “Regular” and don’t see that changing anytime soon.

I can deal with that. Concept is king.

NCT 127 will always be “NCT one-twenty-seven” to me, instead of “NCT one-two-seven.” You’re welcome.

Literally just a placeholder

2018-10-22 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Honestly, I’m just hanging on by Tylenol and Youtube right now, so I’m going to post this old-school (can you say that for a group that’s only like 2 years old?) photo of NCT 127 and call it a night.

I love how the Firetruck concept combined 70s-punk with the 90s-stray kid aesthetic. (Or is it early 2000s? I need photoreferences.)

Anyway, this look was so WEIRD.

I like weird.

A very personal review of NCT 127’s Regular-Irregular

2018-10-19 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

When I sat down for my first listen to NCT 127’s first full album, Regular-Irregular, I got about 30 seconds into the first song and paused. What was a hearing? Did this song sound suspiciously like EXO’s “Unfair”? (Yes it did.)

I was concerned. In fact I was so concerned that I quit Spotify and walked away.

It wasn’t until later that I gave the album a fair shot. But, like other books that I started a few times before getting invested in their plot and characters, Regular-Irregular just needed a little bit of time.

Unlike many k-pop albums, Regular-Irregular is arranged around a concept. The “dreamlike” concept has been with NCT the whole way through, so that’s nothing new, but I was not expecting 127 to come out of the gate with a fully-formed concept like this. It took EXO years of “singles” albums to refine a sound that worked for them enough to build a whole album around it.

This album is fantastic. It takes everything great about NCT 127 and remixes it into something new and utterly fun to listen to.

The first section is “Regular,” in which most of the songs sound like much of NCT 127’s earlier mini-albums. There’s the rap track (City 127), the bright pop song (Replay/PM 01:27), and the ballad (Knock On). None of these are unfamiliar, and once I pushed past my initial reluctance to the first track I breathed a sigh of relief. This is the NCT 127 that I know and love. Good rapping, smooth vocal harmonies. They’re good songs with some interesting moments, but nothing overly memorable.

Then we come to “No Longer.” This is the gem of the album. It’s a ballad, but in the style of an EXO winter album: the exact opposite of what NCT 127 usually does. (Seriously it would fit in perfectly with Universe.) The instrumental is acoustic, rather than synth-heavy. There is no urban or rap influence anywhere. This is a song that gives the vocalists time to shine, and they take advantage of it—especially Haechan. It immediately rocketed onto my unofficial list of k-pop songs to fall asleep to, it’s that soothing and complex and delicious.

Now that you’ve floated off into the land of vocal harmonies and upright bass, it’s time for the turn. This album is helpfully bisected by an “Interlude” that takes us from a sedate, classical beginning (regular) to a dark, distorted ending (irregular) with spoken-word poetryish stuff in between. Parts of this piece sound a horror movie, so I’m never sure if the IRREGULAR part of the album is supposed to be merely dreamlike or more like a nightmare. It’s a little bit unsettling, I won’t lie.

The journey is worth it, because it takes us to another of my favorite songs on the album: “My Van.” It’s very playful and all over the place, overscored by a metallic chiming synth and underscored by very deep distorted voices. This is another song designed to showcase rapping, giving some of the other members a chance to chime in even though Mark and Taeyong dominate. That’s okay though, they’re really good at it. (And Mark finally got his turn at vocal fry with a very well placed “Ahhhhhh yeah.”)

The second half of Regular-Irregular follows the same structure as the first. After the rap track (My Van), we get the bright upbeat pop song (Come Back), and the ballad (Fly Away With Me). Unlike the first half, however, these songs are more sonically interesting to me. Maybe it’s the distortion, maybe it’s a willingness to use chords that aren’t “regular,” but they’re very satisfying songs for someone like me who is a complete sucker for complex pop music. I particularly like “Fly Away With Me,” which is somehow light and heavy at the same time, with a four-on-the-flour beat that somehow never gets old.

If you’re more interested in the chords and rhythms, I highly recommend React to the K’s “First Listen” video, where Umu and Kevin react to and break down the album.

Technically “Fly Away With Me” is the last song on the album but much like “No Longer” was a complete left field surprise, we get a bonus track in the form of “Run Back 2 U.” If you need some NCT nostalgia, this is an expanded version of “Bassbot,” a dance video they released as undebuted rookies. It’s a gonzo song that jumps all over the place, has a female vocal sample, and ends abruptly—but I really like it. Something about k-pop has given me the ability to love and appreciate these songs that are just completely all over the place.

At this point, if you’re at all familiar with the album you might be wondering why I haven’t talked about the title tracks—the English and Korean versions of “Regular.” The short answer is, I don’t like it.

The long answer is a bit more nuanced. “Regular” reminds me a lot of the Twice song “Likey.” They are both very understated, and seem designed more to be played in shopping malls (and sound good) than for fans at concerts or at home streaming with headphones. Both songs are earworms, full of ear candy—Twice’s in audio effects, NCT 127’s in vocal color, think “splash” and “brrrrah.” It seems to me that SM Entertainment is more interested in laying the groundwork for future NCT 127 recognition than they are in providing a song that is immediately interesting to listen to. I respect that decision, even though I dislike the song. “Likey” grew on me. “Regular” has not.

With that said, I’m super-happy with Regular-Irregular as a concept and as an album. I like the back half a lot better than the front half—usually I start with “No Longer” (because I’m addicted) and carry through to the end—but it’s still a solid album from front to back. There are no bad songs, and it will integrate well into an all-NCT 127 playlist. (Except for maybe “Interlude” but that’s okay.)

Highly recommend, will be listening to on repeat, etc.

Why REGULAR is wrong for NCT 127

2018-10-09 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

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.

Jaehyun is the face of NCT 127 in America

2018-10-05 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

I regret now that I didn’t post this online somewhere.

Long ago, when I was first getting into NCT (My First and Last/Limitless era), I thought to myself, “Self, if NCT ever gets big in America, Jaehyun will be really popular because he looks like an all-American Korean.”

Don’t ask me to break down what that means exactly, but to my eyes, Jaehyun resembles a typical all-American type of guy. Some of it’s his body structure and how he carries himself, but it’s also in the balance of his facial features and how his hair is styled. Like if he weren’t from Korea he would be from Nebraska, and on the Olympic gymnastics team.

Speaking English certainly helps.

ANYWAY.

Cut to NCT’s debut in America, and what do you know, Jaehyun is the first member you see in each of the video teasers.

Not Taeyong—he’s for Korea.

Not Yuta—he’s for Japan.

Jaehyun.

In terms of the concept and music, I’m not really sure what to make of this. Office culture isn’t as much a part of the culture as it seems to be in Korea. Although, the cubicle is the easiest thing to message conformity—which was necessary to contrast with the Irregular teaser.

I’m also not entirely convinced that the music goes with the tone of the visuals. SM has been going for a “dreamlike” concept as of late, especially with NCT, so I’ll trust for now. After “Touch,” though, I’m a little…touchy.

Thinking twice, perhaps I’m not as enthusiastic about this teaser because I’m hoping for more 80s romantic goth vampire wannabe vibes. Fingers crossed.

Upping the Instagram game for NCT 127’s regular/irregular

2018-09-21 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Collages are popular to do on Instagram these days, when you take one large image and break it down into a series of smaller ones that–when posted in the right order–create a collage.

SM Entertainment has used this technique for quite some time, and they oftentimes do something fun with it. When Red Velvet was promoting “Rookie,” the promo pics were curated like a game of Where’s Waldo, with something fun in each of the pieces that added up to a really cool picture when you went to the profile page.

With NCT 127’s “regular irregular” promotion, SM has upped their game again.

Now, not only do the collages make a cohesive picture, they have individual member photos underneath. Looking at these is like a fun game of Memory or a comeback-specific Advent calendar. It’s like a 3D puzzle.

Also personal bonus points for a black-and-white photo with shots of chartreuse and teal, aka some of my faves.

Underneath, the member photos are also collaged. When you swipe, it’s like the image just shifts slightly–not like you are swiping to an entirely different photo.

When you post them vertically, you can see how much overlap there is between the two photos. Half of the collage is shared between the two. It makes for a very different experience, which I’m sure is the whole point.

Mark’s collage is simple and classic — like Mark himself.

Haechan’s, on the other hand, is much more busy. It’s great because his “close up” is oriented at a fresh angle. It suits his off-the-wall personality.

I really enjoy reverse engineering stuff like this. SM puts a lot of thought into how they conceptualize and promote each comeback for their idol groups. They’re industry leaders for a reason, and it shows through in everything they do.

When NCT 127 builds a comeback around Lee Taeyong

2018-09-17 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

Let’s not kid ourselves, Lee Taeyong is the centerpiece–the crown jewel, if you will–of NCT 127.

NCT is the group that SM Entertainment is using to prove that they can produce good rappers (and it’s working), so the rap is the king 85% of the time. This is why I’m pretty sure all NCT 127 concepts revolve around whatever Taeyong is into at the time.

Look at Doyoung and Haechan actually pulling it off, the 19th cent. poet vampire lewk

Next month, SM is blessing us with another NCT 127 comeback. This one is called regular-irregular.

Regular-irregular reminds me of Sartur Resartus–another 19th century piece by Thomas Carlyle. What are the odds that a Korean pop act is referencing fairly obscure piece of writing by an old British guy?

I’m also getting flashbacks to reading through the slush pile of the undergraduate literary magazine that I edited back in the day.

At that point in my life I was obsessed with 19th century psychological horror novels, the beginnings of my VAMPIRES phase.

This all feels vaguely synchronous.

And the visuals?

While keeping intact the NCT formal/urban mix, I have a hunch as to where this concept came from. Mostly because of Taeyong’s deliciously 80s hair.

I think Taeyong wanted to look like Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys.

Prove me wrong.

If there’s a sax track in the new comeback I’ll consider that confirmation.

PS. Jungwoo got added to the group this comeback and he’s getting hazed. His turn to wear the dress.

The SM Stylist’s way of saying “get over yourself”

Reinventing the NCT concept

2018-03-14 / childlike empress / 0 Comments

I have so many thoughts about NCT 2018 Empathy. So many. Most of them are not positive, but I remain hopeful.

If you’re just joining this comeback cycle, I was not a huge fan of NCT U’s “Boss” but liked NCT Dream’s “Go” despite my dreamies being all grown up. The more I listen to “Go,” the more of a Haechan appreciator I’m become. His voice is gorgeous and he uses it impeccably. (“Boss” is growing on me, ngl. Listening to it on headphones is like suddenly going underwater and seeing all the coral reefs and fishes when previously you were just been dog paddling above the surface.)

However, that brings us to NCT 127 and “Touch.” Writing about it means that I should post the music video on my channel and for that I hate myself a little bit.

This video makes me cringe.

It’s clear that Dream and 127 swapped concepts for this comeback, with Dream taking the hard-edged grotty urban-inflected hip-hop sound, and 127 covering the squeaky-clean brightly lit bubblegum pop arena. However, unlike Dream’s previous singles (even “Chewing Gum”), “Touch” doesn’t have a twist, or a nudge-and-wink, or a naughty streak. It’s just plain, simple bright smiles and boyfriend material.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that–there certainly isn’t. But it isn’t why I started listening to NCT and certainly isn’t what attracts me to k-pop.

I recognize that I’m not the typical fan (I’m older than most of their target market), because I see the younger fans clearly enjoying the visuals of all the members in this comeback. And yes, they are all very good looking. But I miss the gonzo NCT styling which even applied to Dream when they were promoting. There are no fur hats or eyeball rings and shark jackets or fantasy military jackets. Or Gucci on a hoverboard.

It’s not just the visuals that bother me, though. The actual song “Touch” is really corporate sounding, like you’d stick it into a commercial for an off-brand soda. Frankly, it sounds like a reject from EXO’s winter album that some underling producer got stuck with trying to “funk it up” for NCT.

Which brings us to the Empathy album as a whole, which someone remarked should be called NCT 2016-2018 since it contains all the assorted non-album releases since NCT debuted. “Black on Black,” all of the NCT U songs. NCT U’s “The Seventh Sense” was the first song that drew me to NCT, and if I had discovered it on an album like Empathy, I don’t know if I would have explored more. (Of course it was Dream’s “My First and My Last” that really got me. NCT Dream is secretly everybody’s favorite.)

Specifically, I dislike albums that are all single and no b-side. Even with the intro and outro, there’s no reason for me to listen to Empathy on its own. NCT has always been weak in their discography–partly because they’re still experimenting with their sound but also because they only have mini albums and don’t have a body of work built up like a band like EXO or Big Bang did. Granted, the inherent structure of NCT’s design would make it more difficult to build up a body of coherent work, because they’re built up of subunits with different themes and sounds.

Even more specifically, I’m really disappointed by the song “Yest0day.” Interesting title, not a bad hook, fantastic rap from Mark (who is really starting to hone his chops), all ruined by an idiotic rap from Lucas. One of the main reasons I like k-pop is that even when the rap is simplistic or lacking finesse it’s not dumb. I hate dumb rap where they take a word and then rhyme it five times in a row without any rhythmic variation or wordplay or anything. Mark delivers the opposite of that. So does Taeyong. But Lucas the Usurper? No more dumb rap, please.

Now. Granted. Part of this sounds like the knee-jerk reaction of someone who is protective of a fledgling k-pop group. And that is true, I like NCT and being a person high in openness, I like the idea of an ever-expanding group that can shift to accommodate different musical styles and moods.

But it’s hard to watch SM deliberately crash the original NCT concept. One of the benefits of doing it now is that I know that I won’t have to watch it happen in slow motion, when producers run out of ideas and the concepts all start to morph slowly into each other and enough members leave that all the subunits are consolidated to keep the group alive. At least we don’t have that future.

Maybe (hah) this means that we can get more clarity out of future NCT subunits, who will emerge to deposit a well-conceived package of music into our earballs before evaporating back into the nebulous NCT mothership. (Isn’t that what the concept was supposed to be anyway?)

I suspect that the deliberate switching of Dream and 127’s concepts, plus the cataloging of U’s random singles into one album, serves as a zeroing-out for the group. I think this is supposed to be a new start, a time for all the subunits to develop empathy for each other’s concepts and learn how to work together or whatever. However they promote from this point forward, it won’t be the NCT that we started with.

On the plus side, SM is always A/B testing, so I’m hoping we’ll get something stronger out of this. The concepts for both Super Junior and EXO crashed too, and both groups did alright for themselves.

PS: SM Entertainment, this is my request for an official Mark/Haechan subunit.

Batfort

Style reveals substance