In between the various debuts by groups from the bigger companies, it is always interesting to see how less well-known agencies try to compete. While some decide to have their groups follow traditional concepts because they think it will increase their ability to succeed, others count on unusual concepts to make their groups stand out.
With Chrome Entertainment‘s new girl group Bob Girls — only the second one they debuted after Crayon Pop — their intention seems to have been to go for the second option. One of the company’s representatives even said:
“Bobbed hair doesn’t just signify a hairstyle but it represents ‘woman’s transformation and change.’ Expressing its unique color through various transformations and change is Bob Girls’ identity.”
In and of itself, seeing more short-haired women on the K-pop scene could be considered as a welcome addition. But when keeping in mind that Wings debuted with a song with the same concept earlier this year and AOA is coming back with a short-haired concept as well, the timing might not have been perfect. This way, Bob Girls chances of making it in an already over-saturated market could drastically decrease.
[youtube http://youtu.be/UhF63H1xRJI]
Regrettably, their debut MV “No Way” does not really manage to capture the viewer’s attention either. While their in-house sunbaes Crayon Pop were able to win over a considerable number of fans with their quirky image, Bob Girls are going with the save option of adhering to one side of the great K-pop girl group dichotomy. With their short outfits and the bunny ears, they align themselves with the many girl groups who are following the sexy-concept trend this year.
Within this concept, their goal seems to be a refined, classy kind of sexiness (the bunny ears might be a nod to Playboy magazine as a symbol of what the media likes to call a ‘classy men’s magazine’ ). This impression is underlined by the old mansion which is one of the two locations featured in “No Way”.
In these two settings, the mansion and a non-descript street, Dahye, Yujeong, Jina and Danbi dance in two different outfits — the first of which, the black leather outfits in the mansion, remind the viewer of similar outfits in other sexy MVs like Girl’s Day‘s “Expectation” or Miss A‘s “Hush”.
All of this, the minimal number of locations and the unoriginal outfits, could be remedied if “No Way” would deliver on the storyline/performance front. Which is a thing that doesn’t happen. Instead, the viewers might feel as if they are watching the dance version of an already existent music video. Releasing such a dance version would be a questionable decision in itself, since the choreography does not really have any stand-out moves but is rather ordinary K-pop fare. When one realizes now that this is actually their only music video, one cannot help but question Chrome Entertainment’s decision to make this the group’s debut video.
The whole thing is even more disappointing considering that “No Way” is quite a good song. Admittedly, the lyrics are not even worth looking up as they tell the same old self-objectifying, pleading-to-be-conquered narrative which the viewer has heard many times already:
“When I wear sexy clothes and walk on the street
Guys keep coming to me
Hey you, snap out of it, before I change my mind
Come to me and captivate my heart”
But the beat is catchy, especially the heavily featured guitar and the synthesizer-like effects. It is repetitive yet not annoying and, coupled with the pleasant voices of the members, this could have been a nice opportunity for an enjoyable summer single.
All in all, it seems like Chrome Entertainment let a chance slip through their fingers by going the tried and tested route with Bob Girls’ debut. The MV’s forgettable choreography and absence of other interesting features leads to a meager 2 out of 5.
The song itself is a nice listen which the viewer might want to revisit after having watched the MV. Together with the sweet song “Oh My Boy”, which accompanies “No Way” on the album, Bob Girls’ The 1st Single Album gets a 3.5 out of 5.
(단발머리(Bob Girls), YouTube[1], Wikipedia, Yahoo!Entertainment Singapore, translation by pop!gasa; images via Chrome Entertainment)
