Battle of the B-Sides: B.A.P: Carnival

 So this was actually suggested to me by multiple members of the fandom when I shared the Greatest Hits post for the title track, Feel So Good, with them. There's been enough time since I posted that (about a month) and there's been enough variation in the GH and BBS posts since then that this feels like a good time to post this. And that way, I can get this back to them finally, and it can stop sitting on my head screaming at me to do it. So, this is from the B.A.P's eponymous 2016 album, Carnival.

You all are apparently getting very cheery songs right now. I don't know how much of it is me wanting cheerful songs, but aggressive cheerfulness can almost never go wrong. Honestly, the song feels like a finale song to a musical, where they're dancing down the middle of a street, with the others in the cast falling in behind while streamers and confetti rain down around them and the band is actually a marching band. It's just fun incarnate. 

Every time I hear Bang Yongguk's timbre, my brain goes back to the first time I heard it when I said to myself "Who does that low voice belong to??? I know that's not Moon, [For some reason, I learned Jongup as Moon and I don't know why he is one of two exceptions to me only calling the artists by their stage name if applicable, and if not then whatever form they go by, so if I slip and call him Moon or in future, that's who I'm referring to] so who is he???" I know I'm partial to the lower voices that threaten to make my bones rattle anyway, but wow, is it beautiful, and it provides such a good, contrasting backbone to the group's songs when he raps that without him, the song would feel completely incomplete. And he's a lyricist and composer for the group (including on this song), so without him, they literally wouldn't have the songs they have. Multi-talented leader.

Speaking of these two, I found a performance of this song where he is absolutely terrorizing the two youngest members of the group and it's just so funny. And going into the comments, which is a good place to find a general consensus, the fans loved his energy for it. What's funny about that side of the room is it's in height order. That brings me joy. I don't know if they did it on purpose, but it makes the part of my brain that likes order very satisfied. It might be true for the other side as well, but the height difference is less noticeable. But at one point Yongguk steals Jongup's mic and is jamming on both mics for a few seconds, after which he switches targets and starts hanging on Zelo. Also, apparently at some point Yongguk said this should have been the title track, which makes sense considering the album title and the amount of uncharacteristic fun he's having. One of my favorite leader genres is when they let loose and just go for the fun, because that's the signal for the rest of the group to also just go for it. In this case, I think it's Youngjae who had a mind glitch and briefly forgot the lyrics, causing him and Daehyun to fall over laughing. Daehyun also almost smacked himself in the face with the mic. Too much enthusiasm, but also the best amount of enthusiasm. They remind me of a clumsy pile of puppies, and I'm surprised at how many 2012 groups have that very apt description.

I was going to remind everyone first of the MCountdown stage in March of 2016 before the radio show, but I couldn't wait to do this one just from the amount of joy radiating from the members. Serve well, Zelo, so you can return to your hyungs.

Youngjae forgetting his lines is apparently a thing because he did it on the MCountdown stage as well, although in a different spot I think. Also, while I've been playing the performances and watching the videos, PJ (my orange cat who likes the high energy, aggressive songs) has been purring the entire time. So this song is PJ Approved! There's a very relaxed fun feeling to the stage, where, yes there's choreography, but it also feels a lot like the members are just goofing off on stage, like the stage is just their playground and we've been invited to play with them.  They're smiling so much that I can't help but smile in return. The choreography is also delightfully dorky and really lends itself to the goofy, fun vibes. B.A.P shines so much for this song that I'm genuinely surprised that it didn't end up the title track, and that more people didn't take note of it, especially since there were apparently only 5-10 members of the actual fandom (Babyz) in the audience. This is the superior way to listen to this song: live because the members' energy is infectious. 

This is a single camera performance where you get to see the full effect of the fun on the stage from February of 2016. The dynamic cuts and angles is fun and exciting, but this is what the song is meant to look like, and the joy radiating off the members is nearly palpable, even through almost nine years and a camera stands between us now and them then. B.A.P is having a party on stage that you can't actually see with the cuts and the changing angles, but here, you get to see it. 

I'm a huge fan of the outfits the members are wearing here. They seem so soft and fluffy, and once more Yongguk is not dressed the same as the others. Although I have to laugh. One of the comments describes Jongup as that kid down the street riding a tricycle, and that's actually a perfect description of what he's wearing. All he needs is a propeller hat, and he is in that outfit. This is a party going on and we're invited to it. Also, I'm really excited about the number of places they got to perform this song. The only thing that I'm not overly pleased with, though I understand it, is how cut these performances are. I get it, especially with when in B.A.P's history this album was released, but a two minute performance? That seems an unreasonable amount of the song removed when the song is already only three minutes.

Which is why I like the radio versions better in certain ways. They're the actual song length, but the energy doesn't flag at any point for them even still. Also, they're, if possible, even more goofy than they are on stage, and Jongup did in fact hit himself on the mic, which his hyung fails to do in the other one. The head jerk and the startled laugh is a dead giveaway to the mouth-mic collision. 

Carnival is a celebration song. It's a joyful song, and the members' joy is infectious as they perform it. In the midst of their more serious, darker works, this album, and especially this song, stands as a brilliant beacon to beckon in the midst of stress and worry.