Pop Off: RIIZE vs TEMPEST vs Kep1er (September 2023 Comebacks)

[00:00:00] Viewer discretion is advised. Your faith will be criticized. That's Jan. That's Chris. And it's a CCTV The Nonstop Pop Show. And it's time for the September 2023 Hey Pop Popple. Looking for an awesome global pop music podcast? Well, Shannon and I have the inside scoop with

[00:00:47] extensive experience performing on stage and working at record labels. And we review and deep dive into your favorite artists, songs and careers analyzing all the creative and business decisions along the way. You can join us on Patreon at patreon.com.cctvpops and become

[00:01:02] a part of our amazing crew, which includes Lily, Lisette, Emily and Juliette. Subscribe now and let's explore the world of pop music together. Yeah, we will take you to a better place. Oh yeah. Pop Off is a segment here on CCTV where

[00:01:17] we will take some tracks, compare the songs, videos and performances, and pick our favorites in East Category, then East Chutes in Ultimate Winner. This is meant for pure fun, so don't

[00:01:27] take it too seriously. Come join with us and let us know what wins for you in the comments. And as always, we put up polls on our socials at CCTV Pops asking you all to vote for

[00:01:38] which songs we should include in this episode. And again, it was quite a close vote. But we're doing some new groups, more new groups today. Yeah, the other were the youngins. We're doing RISE, Tempest and Kepler. So let's get ready to rumble. Round one.

[00:01:58] First in the ring is RISE with Get a Guitar. Player one. Done by PhD, Shen Nari, Bang Hye-hyun, Benjamin Samama and David Ark Wright. And this is the debut single from SM's brand new boy group, Not Too Confused with any NCT spin-off.

[00:02:19] Very confusing because let's be real, this could easily be an NCT song too. Anyway, so round one is about the song itself, the production, the vocals, everything. I will say my first impression was that it was quite Disney. Not in a bad way.

[00:02:36] Because you know, like that's our time, that era. So I felt very nostalgic. Like That's not a rocky song. Like it's about a guitar, but it's like very pop. Like guitar is the only real instrument in there. Yeah, that's true.

[00:02:53] I will say I wasn't like that into it when I first heard it, but it has grown on me quite a lot as I've continued to listen to it. And now I do enjoy it. I do still

[00:03:02] feel a little old listening to it. But I think it's super catchy, very warm as well. Yeah, the little hooks are nice. Yeah, baby. Oh yeah, it's good. Like the little like post-chorus as well. Done, done, done. Yeah, I don't know. I think

[00:03:19] the structure is just good. Going back to the instruments though, I do wish there was more guitar. Like even the Zolo in the bridge is like kind of like not muted, but it's like it's not pushed extremely forward. Yeah. And then that last outro moment

[00:03:34] is asking for like a some full guitar solo because yeah. And then there's no face guitar. You know what? You know, like that cool. There'd be some cool bass moments in there. I would have added more depth to the whole thing. Yeah, vocally very

[00:03:52] SM. Again, very warm. There are some nice tones in there. A lot of huskiness. SM loves the husky R&B voices. Then there's like a couple like nasally tones as well. Again, SM loves to balance. So yeah, what do you think? You know,

[00:04:09] I love the thing when you do it. I heard it and I was like, oh, they're that bad. The first verse of the guitar is good. But then the song, song, song does it because the song, song, song, I'm trying to get the right. So this song,

[00:04:21] song does it and it sounds very like guitar. A little too low. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm just like, dang it. Oh, dang. Which sticks because one man's part is he sings it well because it fits in his voice of vocal range. I think the lyrics

[00:04:37] are sweet in terms of like, what's the word for it? The meaning of it being like, listen, don't play with my heart, but the person is playing it so well. It's like, I'm back. I'm back. I like you a lot. So I think that's cute.

[00:04:47] Very just like young simple doesn't really get too like, you know, inappropriate, age appropriate and the idea of taking here that is yeah, it's giving me like a little high school musical era of love or like early Joe Bros. Yes. Yeah. Exactly. I will say that I do

[00:05:06] hear Prince meets shiny because if you think about kids, mm hmm. Yeah. It's very like Princey in that sense with the little 20. Yeah. You know, yes. And granted there are some people think or like people think like Michael Jackson, but Prince was there. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:05:27] There are y'all. But yeah, it's very Prince, but SM, you know, a five. And so he luckily they have him to be the higher tone because like you said, a lot of them are a little husky.

[00:05:37] But yeah, I'm glad that they're actually singing and not relying on the coolness of hip hop to carry the song. Yeah. Like you mentioned that there was like a lack of death and I agree. It's a little shallow in terms of like production elements.

[00:05:49] I think the song is bad as we know it's talented. Everyone did a really good job. But at the same time, I do wish there was a little bit more layer of instrumentation. But yeah, I like it doesn't really sound too much like a, you know,

[00:06:02] spin off show for an NCT group not too much. Yeah, I appreciate maybe because there's no rapping. Maybe. Here is rapping. But yeah, I appreciate it. And I think the B sides of memories is a nice complimentary track. Okay.

[00:06:13] But again, I'm just happy to really go for like the side way in sound. So I'm gonna stand with that one, you know? But yeah, I like this one. It's cute. All right. Yeah. Well, let's move on to the next competitor.

[00:06:25] Let's get it. So player two is Tempest with Vroom Vroom. Player two. This one was done by Johnny Andre Vinhay Brist, Oiven Tonneson, Perr, Oscar Eklund, 12 and Lou and Farong of Tempest. And this is the title track from their first single album Into the Tempest.

[00:06:46] Yes, Into the Tempest. You know, this one is interesting because we like it when they came out. We did Bad News. Be sure to check out our Is It Pop? An episode of Bad News. And we also discussed them a couple of months ago with their song Dangerous.

[00:07:01] Yeah. When those two songs embody like second gen K-pop boy groups. This is their gen ish NCT SM song camp. And I was trying really hard not to compare, but it's difficult because their singles have been really bright.

[00:07:19] Yeah. Even the B side on this single album you said? Oh, gosh. K-pop and their categories. OK, so yes, on the single album, there is a song, Dive or Deep. One of the two, it's about water. It sounds more like them.

[00:07:35] And I'm not saying they can't stay within the realm of or they can't experiment without. I'm not saying they can't experiment, but for me, this just sounds a little bit too much like we have a demo kind of floating around.

[00:07:48] Would your boy group be interested as opposed to Temfest is this group that makes this kind of music? Can you give us something that has a little bit of flair, a little bit more of a hip hop spin to it?

[00:07:56] Because there's so many ways you can like build upon their concept. And I don't hate the song like a nod at all. It definitely serves purpose. Like every boy group has like their hot boy era.

[00:08:05] I feel like they hit there's a little too soon because they've only had like what three single since they debuted last year. So I'm just like, OK. Um, we are there are some highlight moments.

[00:08:15] I will say that it has like this interesting melody, main melody and drunk part pattern. And before the verse starts and it plays throughout the song, the fall and the way with the beat in the second verse, I like, because it creates nice tension.

[00:08:31] And there's harmonies here and there they're satisfying to listen to. Luckily, they have that vocalist whose name is slipping from my brain right now. But they have him. He's taking a lot of the highs. He's taking the pre-chorus mostly. Yeah. Luckily, they have him because he's he's great.

[00:08:43] He's solid. Um, but again, it's just tough not to hear SM song camp. I do appreciate the dance break though. It's giving me fast, furious. So like, I just again wish the sonic approach was a little bit more. Original. Yeah.

[00:08:57] A little bit more bespoke to them because like, you know, there's a whole decade of Western music that they can draw influence from from 2000 2012. Like this bigger and sink back straight even like British groups are. Yeah. You know, but yes, this one's like okay for me.

[00:09:14] How about you? Yeah. I mean, I wasn't expecting the sound like when it started because I yeah, there are other singles have been more bright. And so it's good that they're like expanding their range. I guess. This isn't. Yeah. The NCT comparison was immediate for sure.

[00:09:29] Like you can hear Taeyong doing that. She could check a boom. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's very him in that way. So yeah, I can totally see it as an NCT reject maybe or yeah. However you want to call it. I think the overall raft flows are fine.

[00:09:47] There's no like huge standout moments for like, oh, that was like cool wine. They're like, you know, that delivery was like really cool. There wasn't anything really like that, but nothing like bad about it. It was like was yeah, fine. Yeah.

[00:10:00] But yeah, it's all just a tad predictable. It's kind of what you were saying. Like the bridge was exactly what you would expect to be. That kind of like R&B ish bridge with like the on the back. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:10:11] And then, you know, the huge note leading into like the dubstep be dance break. Like it's just so it's just been done. Yes. So much. That's the thing. Yeah. But I will say what I do enjoy, especially listening to it with headphones as well.

[00:10:24] The car sounds throughout are actually interpolated into it really well. Yes. Like it's really cool the way they blended the car sounds into the chick and chick and burn room. And I love the ending with the screech and stuff too.

[00:10:36] Like, yeah, I thought all of that was done really well. And there's actually this hidden harmony behind the chicka chicka room room and as it builds and it's very far back in the mix. I only noticed it when I played it in head bills.

[00:10:48] I was like, imagine if they did that. I mean, that would be very NCT as well to be fair. Yeah. But if they did the full kind of four or five part harmony build, the chicka chicka room room. Yeah.

[00:10:56] At least it would have climaxed the chorus, maybe a tad more. Yeah. Women's fun, more fun. But yeah, I'm not too impressed with this one. You know what I said about this one? It's better than Cravity's skirt. I was like, give me out of here.

[00:11:12] Give me out this car immediately. All right. The final player is Kepler with Galileo. Player three. And this was done by Ed Jundson, hero and Dino of Sunny, Josh Stouton, Sojita, Lauren Aquina and Marcus Anderson. I know how to say that name, but I just slipped my mind

[00:11:34] because I was like, oh my God, I recognize her. She worked with Rina Sawayama and also she did Ives 11. Yes. So I'm excited to talk about this one. Because we have notes and this is the title track from their album Magic Hour. Yes. Okay.

[00:11:49] I do like the funk guitar. It is fun. It is not too disco-y because K-pop, they have a tendency to like, they latch onto something and they don't let it die for like two years. And so I was afraid that this is going to happen

[00:12:03] with this one, but it didn't. I like that the girls are using the lower breath vocal styling, so I appreciate the vocal production on that. Because it just, if you have too much high notes throughout the song, it just gets very like, your ears

[00:12:20] get jaded and get tired, fatigue, best word. And I feel like it rises in a nice way, the dynamic as well as good enough for me to be like, okay, we've reached the crescendo. The chorus is here. It's down different from the verses.

[00:12:34] And the chorus is catchy enough. I do appreciate that it doesn't sound like it's super, super geared toward TikTok. You know what I'm saying? Like it sounds like an actual K-pop chorus, but it just sounds like a standard issue K-pop chorus. Like girl group, we had that moment.

[00:12:49] They're like, the stuttering kind of lyric. Nothing that really like stands out. The lyrics are super sweet in terms of like, I guess like a first love or like feeling strongly about someone. But I'm trying to figure out what Galileo himself was dragged into this.

[00:13:03] I'm trying to figure out, see my thing is... Yeah, do they mention like astronomy a lot? No. No, not at all. Well, okay, so here's the thing, right? So little history lesson for folks. So Galileo found out that the Earth revolves around the sun, so it's heliocentric, right?

[00:13:18] So I was thinking maybe your mind or your heart is revolving around this one person that or because he discovered different things with a telescope, you're discovering someone's heart, but you're calling that guy Galileo or that person Galileo.

[00:13:32] Like I'm looking for you as opposed to you looking for a star. I am trying to make it work. That or the team was just being lazy. It was like, oh, Galileo Kepler, space. Let's go. I don't know. Yeah. But yes. Again, that's the only kind of note.

[00:13:47] And I just feel like the dance break was predictable. We're talking about predictability. All right, like it's up for me. That's our best dance break. Oh yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And then on this album, I just feel like Love on Lock was probably a better.

[00:13:59] Because there's no group that has a single as a sound. Like it has like this really funky, that funky, but I say funky in terms of like, I like it. It gives me feels not like genre wise, but yeah, it's solid.

[00:14:11] It's just kind of just I don't know what's going on with this group. But what their sound is, it just sounds like very generic girl group. Yeah, I'm these projects groups kind of always I'm not a huge fan of them

[00:14:24] because I think we talked about this when we talked about the last few couple are single because I get that maybe the general public is connected to them because they obviously helped kind of form. Yes, right.

[00:14:37] But then because their temporary group that are all signed to these different labels, they you know, it's temporary. But then also then there's really no point in them establishing a signature sound because it's temporary. So I don't know. This is the whole concept.

[00:14:52] Yes, I don't really get it. But anyway, you're right. So this sounds fine. Yeah, the production is fine. I think the overall balance is really nice. Like it gets really full in the chorus and like there's there's a lot of

[00:15:03] synths and stuff going on, but it actually balances out really nicely. So yeah, with the guitar as well. Yeah, the overall melody is pleasant. It is giving summer though. And like, you know, we're here in New York where it's like tumbling down in temperature right now.

[00:15:19] So I don't know, it just feels a tad weirdly timed. Maybe the song. It does. It feels like. Yeah. Like yeah, but like so I obviously I'm not like a huge fan of Kepler. So like I can't really pick out their voices and stuff very well.

[00:15:34] So when I hear this song, there's no way I would never know who what group this was. If you didn't tell me like this could easily be sung by pretty much any girl group. Yeah.

[00:15:44] And if even if it's not their signature sound like it could be a B site. You know, you know, like there's just nothing unique about it. I actually, to be fair though, did like the dance break moment because I

[00:15:56] thought it at least brought the whole thing to another level. Okay. Yeah. It gave it like a decent energy boost. Yeah. It's just kind of like, you know, kind of just like flat lines a little bit. Yeah, it's complicated. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, it's all just like pleasant.

[00:16:12] Yes, I agree. So it's fine. Like I honestly don't have that was to say about it. I understand understandable. And like, I can't even sing it back to you right now. And we listened to it like 30 times before we saw him. So yeah. Yeah. You know what?

[00:16:26] Keplian's listen to get mad. Just one of those things where I personally feel like love online. You probably would like it be like, okay, why was this not a statement? Like with them, their debut single mask mask would have been perfect again. Oh, yeah.

[00:16:37] I'm not supposed to call you up. They have so many B sites are better than the title track. And I'm like, do you want them to not do well? What's going on? Because that's the other thing is that we'll talk about this more as

[00:16:46] we get into the visuals because it's like they're not all on the same page with like what they're giving. Yeah. And anyway, speaking of, we will get to round two very shortly because that ends round one. Let's choose a winner.

[00:16:58] Oh, which one is the best song for you? Oh, good. Okay, I'm going to give it to rise. Sorry. I should have laughed, but I'm going to give it to right because I played the song, although it's not like, wow, it's solid.

[00:17:11] There's moments I really appreciate and is a lot of hokey points. Yeah, I have to give it to rise as well. Yeah. All right. Well, so round two is about the video. Round two, the get a guitar video. It's fun. Yeah.

[00:17:27] Yeah, I appreciate that it's, you know, it is SM, so I'm glad they're not, you know, in Kwongya first off. Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. The over. Kwongya has been destroyed by Thanos. Yeah. Oh, which is great. Like they're in the real world. It's all very like normal.

[00:17:49] Yeah, they exist. They're not like codes that we see them out. I really enjoyed it actually. I thought the mix of the candid moments and the dance moments were really well done. I liked the overall settings of everything, like them in the rooms,

[00:18:05] like with all the guitars and then them on the skateboarding ring. And like I thought all that skateboarding part, whatever. All very, very cool. And very natural. Like you have the candid moments, like them laughing with each other,

[00:18:19] cheering each other on when they're performing on stage and stuff. Like that felt natural. And even on camera, like SM does a really good job with this. Like they're very natural on camera too. Oh yeah. Like every little smirk and stuff, it's not trying too hard.

[00:18:32] Like it feels like they genuinely wanted to do that. Yeah. Told to do that. Like smile at the camera now. Yeah. So I enjoyed it. Yes. Yeah. It was cute. I think for me, I do appreciate like you can see the personalities and also even in

[00:18:48] the style that you can see like who's what like what their person. I always like that about SM. Other groups do it too, but I noticed with SM, they're like, if you have a certain role or you have a personality, they will dress in that way.

[00:19:00] Like Anton gets dressed in this very like smart kind of way. What's his name? Sun Han, the one that looks like Kangta. He has an old SM face. This isn't bad. It's a good face, but he looks like 90s SM.

[00:19:15] You have so he who has like the 2000s like choppy haircut. Yeah. But you can tell it's almost like, huh? Okay. I know that one or you know, the hair with one bit. I know their names because I was like, okay, who's that one with this?

[00:19:27] And who's that one? You know, I know it because of that. That's great too. I tough with the new group. It is. And I usually am just like, okay, they want the hair and you know, so they do their job with that.

[00:19:37] I do like that it is chill. It's fun. Like you said, I think the balance between the BCR and then the high quality camera definitely it, I mean, they've done it for all their groups. They did it with NCT Dream before we young, no young, we go whatever.

[00:19:52] Either way, they use that. It's not like anything new and not reacting to the wheel here. But it's again, it's just nice to see like these guys from this very like prestigious company looking natural, which is almost becoming hard

[00:20:05] for SM to do now because they have NCT, they're like worlds away. And then you have S-Vocal was literally in another room. So not anymore than God. But yeah, I feel like I appreciate the camera work because what they using a lot of dynamic shots. Yes.

[00:20:19] And they would have used static shots. It would have been so much more boring. Yeah. You know, so I appreciate the work that they did. Simple enough. I get it. I understand I knew who was who or at least I wanted to know who was

[00:20:28] who while watching and yeah, you know, I appreciate it. And shout out to Shota Ro and Song Chan, Song Chan, right? Shota, yeah. So, so, so, so, so, Song Chan, you're a... Okay, yes. You can congrats guys for leaving the mess that was in NCT. Oh my God.

[00:20:44] They must be so... They are out of the dungeon. Oh man. All right. So moving on to player two. Vroom vroom Tempest. Okay. You know this video. I'm gonna get this video. I actually like it. The set design of the video I enjoy, especially in that one

[00:21:07] room where the main dance scenes are taking place and it's like an engine of some sort of type air witch engine. Yeah. It's like an A-home, like it's a motorcycle engine. I don't know. But it looks like it looks like some kind of inside of a

[00:21:18] vehicular body, right? Yeah. So I appreciate that. I like... I don't mind videos in a wrong... Yeah, I don't mind box rooms. Yeah. And box sets. I don't mind that because it's a good box set. Yeah. But I thought it... That's not the room I like.

[00:21:34] Everybody else's room was kind of just like repurposed from the dance scenes. Like they were in the white room, the lead singer. The lead singer. The main vocal was also in the white room, but with a sports car, like it was just kind of repurposed, which is fine.

[00:21:48] Like you don't have to sit there and go to different sets each time. You don't have to. Yeah. But again, it didn't stand out too, too much. I do like the way the guys look like this whole new era because brought on these new looks.

[00:21:59] Like I think his name is Hanvin, the one that's from Vietnam. Oh yeah. Yeah. He usually looks like, you know, I'm just a blue-backed bear. He's in cream and this time he looks like... He looks like... He has a very sweet, like, you know, like ribbon around

[00:22:13] the neck kind of look, but he looked kind of tough. The little undercut, the little... It's giving edgy, you know? Everything quadong had green hair, blue had blue hair. I was like, well, it's as nice as very striking. So it stood out. The styling I liked.

[00:22:26] But then again, I like hot boy era style. Like I just think it's very fun to have a guy in a crop top with baddie jeans or like, you know, I just like that juxtaposition. I like the motocross outfits. Those are fun.

[00:22:37] And camera work wise, I think through the chorus and the second verse, the camera work was really fun. It felt like I was being controlled on a motorcycle or something.

[00:22:47] But it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not so much to really chime in on the flames and the dance break. Awesome. Yeah. But aside from that, it wasn't like this groundbreaking kind of thing.

[00:22:57] It just, it looked really good though. I'll give them that. It looked good. The camera work was really dynamic. It was fun to watch. But as a whole, there are moments when I... And as a moment, I'm like, oh my God, this is great.

[00:23:12] So there's like, I didn't stay in it the whole time. That's what I'm saying. I enjoyed the video. Yeah. Yeah. I thought for what it was and matched the song, the music how it was there, I agree.

[00:23:22] I think the camera work, they did a good job balancing kind of the like, yeah, like change of like angle and stuff. But like it wasn't too shaky. Sometimes it can get like earthquake and it's like, no, like they're driving inside and be a little smoother.

[00:23:37] So I thought they balanced that well. Yeah. I liked the red room. Oh, yeah. I thought the way they did the lighting and stuff, they were really cool and it kind of looked like a battery, I guess. Yeah. It was kind of like spiking and stuff. Spiking games.

[00:23:49] Yeah. So that was, I enjoyed that. I will say, so they're older than I thought. Yes. Because I thought they were like all like late teens, maybe teen late teens. But no, they actually are some of them are in their like young one teeth. Yes.

[00:24:04] Um, but I, I just thought the cool guy thing or boy thing as you, as you just said, not fully, not gender you went. Not all of them. No. Yeah. Like they're like, this is different from what we were just talking about with, with RISE.

[00:24:23] Like it's like, it did not feel natural. Like it felt very forced. Like I'm cool. I'm like, yeah, lip fighting eyebrow raises stuff. Like it was just like a lot. And I get it because that's kind of what the song is giving. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:40] But like some of them, it's just, it looks fake. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's giving life's good energy. Just all like, yeah, yeah. It's just a little try hard. It was some woman, which is tough. Yeah. But I think, you know, because a lot, you know, with

[00:24:58] these K-pop things, like the kind of just given the concept and told what to do, right? So I think they did their best with what they could for sure. And I did enjoy watching it. Like it was entertaining. Yes.

[00:25:08] Um, but yeah, I just think maybe give them a couple more years and maybe you'll feel a little more natural. So I was saying with this concept. Yeah. I agree. I'm next to the Kepler Galileo video and this one did not require too much thought. Thank God.

[00:25:24] But still I'm confused. Um, so what I got from it, they're all hanging out, having a good time in their business. And then suddenly, photo booth will be up in the sky. An unidentified flying object, you know, was identified as a photo booth.

[00:25:38] I will say, I don't care that I don't care for the concept that it was a photo booth because I'm like, girls do other things and take pictures. Like they could, it could have been an elevator. It could have been a spaceship. It couldn't be anything.

[00:25:50] I went along with the concept that they actually have because they go on the inside and there's elevator button to take them to places. Why does a photo booth have elevator buttons? I mean, they did play with the photo booth concept when one of the girls pressed merry

[00:26:03] go round, it took pictures of them and such. But again, it doesn't go with the space concept. It could have been a UFO, an elevator that shot up into space. I don't care. It could have been anything. Yeah. But they used it and then one of the members

[00:26:14] pressed the heart. So I guess they're trying to find a final way to get to the fun places and the heart was the last, the final destination. And once they got there, they're in a museum, still looking for love, all these imageries of love and depictions of love.

[00:26:27] I think it's so funny that they get close to the painting and they get blue skadood into one of the. If you don't know what a blue skadood is, they're too young. But yeah. But yeah, I mean, after that it gets a little

[00:26:41] it just the video just starts to decline in terms of like wow or like new moments that really like made me go, oh, that was nice. I think the intersection portion is cute because it's like, how do I get to your heart? Which way to go?

[00:26:53] I get it. It definitely illustrates the meaning of the song well enough for you to get it. But it's just about it was just satisfactory and I cannot with the weird anime like staring. Yeah, the blank staring is not my thing. No.

[00:27:14] Yeah, I don't have much to say about this video. Yeah. Going back, I'm sorry, I did it sound like such a hair here, but how's that? I just don't get this group again. Oh, like the chemistry is not there. No, it's not like I do not feel

[00:27:32] that these girls ever hang out with each other like outside of work. What's found like it's it just feels so fake. Like it's it's just like, OK, here in this scene, you guys have to pretend your friends and taking pictures of those. You know what I mean?

[00:27:47] Like it's like not genuine. So the forward even at the end when they're like running out of the photo booth and they all kind of like look at each other, like it's not. I don't feel friendship here. There's no warmth. It's just so robotic. Yeah.

[00:27:58] And that doesn't help with the blank staring as well for a lot of them. Like I just don't get it. Like there's I'm not captivated. No, it feels like co-workers. Yeah, like you know, no, I'm not captivated. Yeah, the actual video is fine.

[00:28:15] I thought some of the effects and stuff in the museum were cool. Yeah, the visuals were well done. It didn't look too like it looked very expensive. Like they did a really good job with the effects and stuff.

[00:28:27] Yeah, I was distracted by just like how they're just not good. Oh, I'm just staring. Performers like overall overall. I will say like the five that are in the dance group. Yeah, obviously they're like giving for that. I did enjoy that.

[00:28:43] But yeah, just like the acting and stuff. I don't know. Just yeah, not absolutely looking for me. Some people don't fit that concept. Like he could do it like shouting. Like they have a little bit more of like a sultry kind of like

[00:28:54] sultry, which is not what the song is. No, and so we're like, oh, yeah. And she is holding back. We'll talk about the choreography, but like she is a star. I just say she is a star and she's being held back in this group.

[00:29:09] It comes out to me speaking of so I agree. Some members fit this a little bit more than others. Yeah. Yeah. Let's choose a winner for round two video. I have to give it to Ryze again. I'm sorry. Oh, that's nice. No, he's right.

[00:29:25] I mean, I rise to you. I'm just saying they have everything in the you know, far. Okay. So the final round is about performance and choreography. Yes. Round three. Okay. So player one, Ryze. I love this. I think it's so good.

[00:29:47] I like it even more each time I watch it. I'm like, oh, that part and like, look at them in the back. We're doing that. Like it's sling. Yeah. It's super slick. It's not generic at all. Yeah. They only do kind of the basic guitar strum.

[00:29:58] Like a few select times and every other time where there is a reference to that motion ends up, it's actually very creative. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's really, really well done. I love the play with a rock hand. Oh, yeah. And the chorus again, just super creative.

[00:30:12] The footwork is really cool like that. Yeah, like that. It's hard. That's really tough and they look super clean. Yes. Make it look super easy. Yeah. Very smooth. And then just to juxtapose what I was just saying about Kepler, their interactions were very genuine feeling. Feeling, yes. Yeah.

[00:30:31] Because there are little moments even if you're watching the ones in the back. Mm-hmm. They'll look at each other or like there's a part in the second verse where they're all kind of facing each other and they're like making little smirks at each other and stuff.

[00:30:39] Maybe that's directed which likely is directed. Mm-hmm. But it feels genuine. There's a story, yeah. Yeah. In Shota Roe, that dance break, yo. Yeah. He kills that. He's like, I want to... He's been crepping for that in the dungeon for years. Since what? Universe?

[00:30:57] Oh, it was the first song that he was... Yeah, universe. Universe. Oh my God, yeah. Oh my God. Oh my God, yeah. He's been crepping for this and he looks amazing. That dance break is amazing. And also I love the end of it.

[00:31:07] They do this little like neck thing and it matches like the resonance of the guitar. Mm-hmm. At the end I was like, oh yes, musicality. Yeah. Yes. I agree, I agree, I agree. You know, line to Shota Roe. Shota Roe is Sun Han and Won Bin.

[00:31:25] They tend to forget that they're in a group and they go hard. It's so funny because like you can see like toward the dance break, it's the three of them dancing together and they match so well. Like it's so satisfying. Everyone else can dance as well too.

[00:31:37] But as in purposely, they know what they're doing. The choreographer knows what they're doing. So me saying this is gonna be like, I think favorites. Everyone can see it. Okay, stop. Mm-hmm. They eat that stuff up.

[00:31:48] And I think I enjoy watching them because it's like if I ever try to learn choreography, I look for someone who's doing like the most basic version of it. Like Anton, he's not a terrible dancer. He's just not, he's not pushing out his like performance.

[00:31:59] Like he seems like very introverted kind of person and he hasn't come out of his shell just yet. But I would watch him but to get like the feel, the new team, like the, yeah, new team is feel.

[00:32:09] I would look at one of those three members because it's just like it's so fun to watch them because they look like they're having fun. Even if you watch like them doing the, it's live, but it's not really live live. But they're watching that it's live.

[00:32:20] You can see one been kind of moving his body wanting to dance. Like it's just, it's fun and there's a lot of like repeatability. There's a lot of word if it is, okay? Yeah. But yeah, they make everything look like it's easy, like deceptively.

[00:32:34] So like I thought I could do the foot thing. I'm over here struggling. Yeah, I need to, I don't really understand how the way shift is going in that. Yeah. That's the only thing. But I want to copy it and that's the whole point.

[00:32:47] They didn't purposely make something for a TikTok or anything. They made choreography that was good and they made choreography that had musicality. Therefore people repeat it. Therefore it can go possibly viral.

[00:32:59] Like that's the idea of it and I appreciate like the SM is not trying too hard to be like this is a trend. So if that's on them, cool. If you're on the choreographer, thank you, whomever. But I appreciate the just actual like performance of it.

[00:33:14] And it wasn't too much either because we all know NCT likes to perform. They're doing world of dance. Yeah. But this is just simple enough to feel like, okay, you know, group one or two all together solo. You know, it's not like, yeah, it's fine indeed.

[00:33:29] Up next is Roaring Roam. Chica Chica. Roaring Roam. Chica Chica. Roaring Roam. Oh, you had it. With the fist pumping. Yeah. Okay, there's a little catchiness in there. How to side note guys, you know, I was watching the choreography and I noticed I was like, I

[00:33:45] think something's up here. It's not that it's just feels like a certain choreography group. So I don't watch your Street Man Fighter just record retroactively. And I realized it was Weed & Boys. So I looked it up and it was Weed & Boys that choreographed it because this choreography

[00:33:58] has a lot of trendy moves and the movements that don't take themselves too serious. Like there are some intricate moments. I think too crazy, but there are moments in this choreography where I'm like, oh, that looks a little involved. But Weed & Boys has this style where it's fun.

[00:34:16] Even though there's a lot of effort that is needed to perform certain motions, it still looks fun. Like even the first verse I was grabbed because of how like swaggy it looked, how

[00:34:26] like it just looked like a bunch of boys at a party who just knew the same dance. And I appreciate that kind of feeling. But yeah, aside from that, me noticing that, I will say that I do wish some certain points

[00:34:40] of Weed & Boys' choreography kind of stayed with them. Or at least formation changes like in the bridge where their dance break. Weed & Boys had more dynamism. That's the word we found out about dynamism. I thought that wasn't a word. It is. Oh it is?

[00:34:57] We just don't say it confidently. Awesome. But yeah, so they had a lot more like formation changes. So it made the dance break a little bit more interesting. I do understand like for an idol group you just want cleanliness and just impact. And it has that.

[00:35:12] I just do wish they had more formation changes. But aside from that, I like the choreography. It's fun. The idol version does what it needs to do. I did notice like the baggy jeans like once like long twerk thing. But it happens whatever not a huge deal was.

[00:35:26] Like they did it the whole time. But they did it for the one Neuroman and moved on. So I mean aside from that, I like it. It's neat. Nothing too crazy. I love Hanbin's part. Oh yeah. He eats it up. Hanbin man. Proud of him. Proud. Yeah.

[00:35:42] I'm very proud. Yes. Yeah it's really full out for sure. And very clean. They do a good job. I think the musicality overall is very, very good. And hits very hard. And it references kind of the dynamics and the vocals as well.

[00:35:54] And just the build of the song. So yeah, I think the overall choreography is good. And the dance skill in the group is interesting to watch because I did try to kind of watch each member in the dance practice. And there's kind of a range in execution.

[00:36:12] Some hit super hard. And some are trying to do the more kind of swaggy cool thing. So I don't know if that was a cleaning thing or just a stylistic thing between the members. Yeah that was just kind of interesting to observe.

[00:36:24] Yeah I think the overall point choreo, which I already know. Yeah. Right? With the fist pumping and like the knee flapping and stuff. I learned that from you knee flapping. Yeah. And yeah, I think it was cool. It was cool in the deformation. Yes. It's effective.

[00:36:39] You get the car references but not too many cheesy. Oh car references which I'm happy about. Like even the part where they're just like doing the one hand on the wheel and then the beep beep with the other one. Like it looks cool. Yes.

[00:36:51] So yeah they did a good job with that because sometimes car references can be a little bit more fun and look really cheesy. The dance break is fine. So yeah I need to maybe watch the original version that they did. Arm swinging.

[00:37:04] Because it's just a little like hip hop advanced class. Stop it then. I mean the Weed and Boys version is not any different. There's a lot of arm swinging but the clean that would be pain but the formation is

[00:37:16] what made it like whoa they're moving because it was such a simple. Yeah. But it just felt like the moves were very like. One. Yeah like what you'd learn in class like it felt very like not foundational but.

[00:37:28] Like no like a classic everyone's standing really straight too like everyone's in this one beep or maybe this arms thing and then. Yeah I don't know. Yeah that's just what it was giving and like we take a lot of dance classes so we don't return to that year.

[00:37:40] Before you say anything. Oh I enjoyed the last chorus. I thought the switch up was really well done. Yeah. I felt like a proper climax there. The energy was there and yeah shout out to Hanbin for sure. Yeah hold it in.

[00:37:55] Yeah so yeah I mean I enjoyed it. Yeah yeah yeah. Oh let me talk one. All right so fine all like really get there with. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Okay okay. So. Whoa. I'll start because you're probably gonna feed for a positive.

[00:38:12] Okay so they also okay I've complained about this before. There's some companies. Yes. They're for their girl groups. Yeah. To make them look cleaner I think. I think that's the motivation.

[00:38:26] I think to make them look cleaner they're told to go not full out right so this is the opposite of tempest where they're told to like go every single hit you better be like giving your

[00:38:38] absolute all like every single organ better be like vibrating from you hitting so hard okay. Right when you watch Hanbin it's like yo like you ate before that. Like it's not gonna stay in your body. This is the opposite this is what we call a mark.

[00:38:55] Oh dance class where you do not go full out but you make sure that your movements are exact right so there's a lot of intricacy in here right yeah a lot of hands yeah and a lot

[00:39:08] of just like little moments and they're fast yeah so and now we had make it make sense to me but it's like every little hip hit and stuff they're literally doing it like the smallest little hip hit yeah and again now going back to like Hikaru and some

[00:39:22] of the more dancer members they are holding back so much you can see it she is holding back so much that like it's yeah but they're they're told to do that so this isn't like

[00:39:33] a commentary on their dance ability is just like the aesthetic that this label has chosen and I don't personally like it very much yeah and yeah going back to kind of like the chemistry and stuff it's like what you just said like they're they're

[00:39:49] like co-workers like even like there's no fire no I'm sorry like do they even like the song like do they even want to be performing this I don't feel that joy like at all yeah and you get that from the other two groups yeah like they

[00:40:05] like where it's like when they're on stage or when they're even in the dance practices and stuff they're enjoying it they're like giving it they're all and it's like coming out of that like yeah the fire is there yeah with them

[00:40:17] and again this could just be a cleaning thing as well where they're told to not be reserved too much yeah yeah but then I'm not captivated by it like if there's no fire behind the eyes like yeah and you're not singing live in these

[00:40:30] performances either so it's like go I feel nothing yeah sorry hopefully you're positive I don't know I'd like smile eerily at the you know I'm still smiling at the camera okay so to go with what you were saying in terms of the lack of

[00:40:57] chemistry like if you want to know what chemistry is Chris and I have that like I can look at him and understand what he's saying I can he can look at me and be like okay I get where she's you know we can just find words within each

[00:41:06] other we can look at each other confidently and be like okay if I can't say this this working person can say it when I look at Kepler I don't get that sense where it's like they're particularly close and they may be maybe

[00:41:16] all camera they are but even when they dance together as partners it feels very five six seven eight like there's a partner work in the second pre-course with Hikaru and some other people where there's like three different

[00:41:29] choreographies going on which bothers me I'm I got but when they're touching doesn't feel very like together or like like together in terms of like feeling with their when they're holding each other and doing an arm wave like no one's

[00:41:42] looking at each other like they come together they're kind of looking past each other are like each other's foreheads like it doesn't feel like they would be like this in the middle of a performance like looking at someone as a

[00:41:52] dancer and like kind of giggling about two seconds is normal I don't get that from them even they perform like for like a live staying yeah like they're not on the same like wavelength yeah it's not like a team like we are one yeah

[00:42:09] but that's a thing yeah there it is especially for the because you guys are touching you're talking about love but you're you're right I don't really like this song and it doesn't mean that the song is bad so do not crapping on

[00:42:20] the songwriters it just made me a different group would execute it a little bit more better because I feel like a lot of these girls want to give you love on lock has all yeah and on top of that one of the members I cannot

[00:42:33] remember her name but she is leading the diagonal for that dance that dance break she's popping her back shaking the organs like he said and it's like she wants that she kind of she gives girl crush and this is not girl crush a

[00:42:46] lot of them are giving girl crush or even high teen and this music is not that so again it's like and it's really right in the milk choreography it is is run the milk girl group choreography they get into a line they do

[00:42:58] levels okay and then one of them another movie that really bothers me is when one of the members links on shouting and a posse like she put her knee up and then she leans and Chris come here but we have more chemistry

[00:43:17] even still but I hate that choreography and another thing too I like the I get cute oh yeah well for Galileo I'm trying to figure out this is like a butterfly or like a fire with a spark in your heart why not do the you know

[00:43:30] Galileo got a like a telescope telescope yeah or like something or just not by your mouth just you know like I'm you know I'm saying like just to make yours up here and Leo something something that feels a little bit more

[00:43:43] galactic so I just feel like again if you're gonna sit there and have a song and a group that pertains to the astronomical space why not just go for it at least it'd be more interesting but yeah they've always kind of struggled with the the whole chemistry thing

[00:44:01] and working together and yeah yeah so I thought they were like gonna be over soon but you told me they're actually potentially extending are they a Keplans please nicely let us know yeah I think they are again I'm sorry

[00:44:14] I don't understand the point like like let them go back to their labels and be in girl groups making songs that they each want to actually do like I just don't get it yeah this one of those like we're trying to you know build a profile for our

[00:44:27] members before they go back I guess as what happened with I if they had Eugen yeah and um well no sir yeah but even active for like a year and a half now right yeah yeah no offense but all right well that ends around three yeah so

[00:44:40] what wins for you choreography oh performance I was gonna give it to a tempest because the Weed and Boyz I just knew it I like this choreography but I want to learn it but not as much as I want to learn give a guitar so I

[00:44:57] think right now they're gonna sleep it up first I'm sorry I have to give it to Ry they are a very clear winner for me overall as well clearly because I chose them are they your overall winner as well they're all overall one or two

[00:45:10] did you see that this one sided I mean some months it is yeah I really want to talk about key I was sad you all you guys didn't vote for key because key

[00:45:21] that album is so good sounds are always good people sleep y'all be paying the wrong people dust but it's okay okay this fine but yeah any little doodle let us know what you all think

[00:45:33] about these tracks and what wins the pop-up for you remember do it kindly or or not but you know just do you want your honest opinion yeah that's what's so fun about music I keep saying

[00:45:43] this in the comments when people are mean to us like this is what fun about talking about music because that we all think different things yeah no echo chambers here honey please hang out with us and the crew on patreon help us choose our next episode topics and

[00:45:58] you can comment below or message us at cctvpops on all social media don't forget to like subscribe and turn all those notifications for you too and if you're enjoying our show on a podcast

[00:46:08] platform please give us a follow a rating and a review until next time that's great that's Jan and we're signing off for cctv not on stock pop show