The school bell rings... After School is back!

 

The ultra-talented girls of After School: L-R (Row 1) Kahi, Bekah, Jung Ah
(Row 2) Nana, , E-Young, Lizzy (Row 3) Jooyeon, Raina, Uee

When you hear female idol groups, a few come to my mind when you talk about certain characteristics. If you talk about pure over-all popularity, SNSD and Kara are definitely in it for the win --- both groups are very popular both in Korea and in Japan! If it's about style and fashion, 2NE1, f(x) and T-ara are the first ones in my books. When it comes to ballads and romantic singles, I usually look up to Davichi.

Ok... I know some of you might not agree with what I've mentioned so far... but I know most Kpop fans will agree with me that when it comes to a good balance between good music and awesome dancing, it would be fair to say that After School is a good fit.

I turn my gaze right now to After School because they just released their first, full-fledged album titled "Virgin" last week. I've long anticipated the release of a full album for the girls since I first heard their single releases for "Bang!" and "Because of You" (and it's great that these singles and some their other hits have been re-recorded for the album). When I first watched their music video for "Bang!", the girls started out with a carefully practiced drum sequence, which reminded me a lot of the movie "Drumline" (starring Nick Cannon --- can't believe that it's been nearly a decade since this movie came out! hahaha!). It was a unique theme to an interesting electro-pop song laden with wicked drum work.

After School has always been known for coming up with new ideas and themes for their songs. Apart from that, every member in their team is an exceptional dancer (especially their leader, Kahi, who used to be a back-up dancer for BoA). The precision in their MV dances and in their live performances just go to show the amount of time and effort they've put into practice. This shows how serious they are as entertainers.

When their album was released, two music videos premiered for the launch of their album, "Virgin" --- the intro "Let's Step Up" and an electro-pop dance track titled "Shampoo". For both videos, they showed off a new dance concept --- TAP DANCING! I used to dance when I was in high school, and I know how difficult it is to learn tap. Seeing After School doing those relatively complex tap routines on the video made me think about how long they must've practiced to polish their performance.

"Shampoo" is usual kpop fare --- a woman expressing her deep affection for her man, wishing he only looks at her and no one else (i know it sounds cheesy, but doesn't everyone wish for that? hehehe!). But honestly, it sounds awkward when you realize that a girl is comparing herself to shampoo. Here are the lyrics from the first part of the song:

I want to become shampoo, flowing down your hair
I want to cover you with my thick scent
If you used to like other scents erase them now
I'll make you drunk with all the scents in the world that don't exist

If you, my star, ever make me sad
I'll make your eyes sting
But if you, my star, make me happy
I can cover your whole body so even the mirror can't see you
I'm going to cover your whole body with white foam
I'm going to bury myself into you so no one else can take you
You can't erase my scent

"Shampoo" by After School

The analogy is definitely uncommon, but it does reflect a certain truth about the Korean concept of love and relationships, at least in terms of how it is characterized in pop culture. It doesn't veer away from the romanticized concept of a very intense sense of ownership of a relationship, bordering on obsession. But then again... it's still shampoo, right?

I'm glad that the the video and the song were done with the usual talent and flair that After School is known for. The video focuses on Raina, one of the main vocalists of the group, being introduced to a team of dancers (or maybe a dance company, or an idol group). Their manager / choreographer sees potential in her, and that pretty much leads to both of them falling in love. For some reason, the male lead is sick and needs to leave the group, which bears down heavily on Raina's character; but the other girls gather around her to provide her support to move on. If you think of the context of the video, I guess the love being referred to by the song doesn't only encompass romantic love, but also the kind of love and the strong bonds shared by friends.

Apart from "Shampoo", there are other new songs in the album that stand out. My personal favorite in the album is the song "Leaning on Time", which is a solo track performed by Raina. An easy going, pop love song with an R&B vibe that's reminiscent of the love songs of the late 90's and the early part of the last decade. Raina's vocals were laid back and relaxed, making it the type of song that's easy to listen and sing to --- you can easily imagine this song being used in a drama for a romantic scene between lovers enjoying a walk in the park.

"Leaning on Time" by Raina (After School)

Another favorite of mine is "Virgin", the title track of the album. At first you would think the song would have an overt sexual overtone, but when you look at the translations of the lyrics, it's a song about loss and regret, and about the exhiliration of being able to do things all over again (like things were new... like a "virgin"... Madonna moment, hehehe!). I love how the song has a hip-hop feel, but you can just imagine it being played as a house / trance track too. It's got a strong beat with lots of dramatic pauses, and I absolutely love the repetitive phrasing that gives it a trance-like quality.

"Virgin" by After School

Apart from the songs that I already love that were remade for this album, out of 9 new songs, 4 songs found their way into my iPod (you should also check out "Funky Man" , performed by Lizzy and Nana - who also form part of After School's project group "Orange Caramel". I'll be making a seperate review for them soon!). Not bad at all!


p.s. 
Here's a little bonus! If you haven't really heard of After School, I'm also posting one of my favorite videos of theirs... "Let's Do It" and "Bang!" (the music video with the drum line performance that they did --- it's awesome to watch!). Enjoy!

"Let's Do It" (Drum Line Dance) by After School

"Bang!" by After School