Song Review:: ODD YOUTH: Best Friendz- THAT'S ME

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  • Release date: 2024 November 01
  • Album runtime: 5 minutes

 Guess who just found out there's a music video for ODD YOUTH's s-side!!! That's right! It's me! One of my favorite debuts from 2024 got a music video for the other song on their debut single! Also, guess who just found out she hadn't paid attention to the album information when she posted the debut review! Also me! That's fixed now. My apologies to everyone.

So compared to the very cute debut track they had, THAT'S ME has more of an edge to it. Also, a cowbell. I don't know about the rest of you, but having what sounds like a cowbell show up in a K-Pop song summoned the yeehaw in my ancestry, which was then also very confused because nothing else about this song requires the yeehaw. This is just some good dance pop with some fascinating variations to the instrumentals. There are frequent breaks where there's two or fewer instruments in play, neither of which are particularly aggressively energetic, but they come at odds times in the song, or don't stay as long as it sounds like they should. The song is one of the rare two and a half minutes songs that doesn't sound like it's too short, which is as surprising to you as it is to me. It somehow feels like a three minute song, and I'm fascinated by this.

We have posturing from a barely debuted group! It's not a ton of posturing, and it's definitely mild compared to what it could be, so it could be worse, but I'm sure you all can guess how I feel about that, but the difference between Best Friendz and THAT'S ME is deeply entertaining for those of us who are me, and I'm pleased that they showed off their group range here. I'm more pleased that this was a b-side track rather than the title track, because this shows that while they can do songs like MEOVV, BABYMONSTER, and BADVILLAIN do, that isn't necessarily going to be their primary sound for the next little bit. The other thing THAT'S ME does that makes me all excited is show how strong and well-supported their vocals are. There's no cutesy singing here, which means that the dance can be more complicated. There's one of them that does her runs so well and cleanly that I'm a little bit in awe of her.

So essentially, the group's music video personas just kind of accidentally commit crimes and then go "oops, oh well?" They're so pretty. They really are a very, very pretty group. And also, can we just appreciate the gun at the end, and how cute the group is even though they just had a bit of a fierce music video? For the record, that would not be safe handling of a firearm. In this case, as I'm sure you understand after watching the music video, it's okay though. But still. That's not how we treat firearms. I actually really like their choreography. It's girly, but it's not simpering, and it's also powerful. Give them a few more years for the clout to hold up the posturing, and I could see this song being an anthem song of theirs.

 


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