Greatest Hits:: TraxX: Oh! My Goddess

 Yes, this is the name that the group turned into, but when the song was released, they were just going by "TRAX", which is how I'm going to refer to them throughout this post. The only reason I know that this band exists is because of the band 20th Century Boys, because one of them started out as a member of TRAX. So this is going to be interesting because I haven't heard of any of their songs. Got this suggestion from someone sending me a message on Tumblr, which was a delight because the band is older than almost every new idol that has debuted in the last two years. Not all of them, but most of them, and it makes me happy to run into a fan of an older group and also for introducing me and a lot of other people to this band. I am very much looking forward to this.

So TRAX is a band that debuted under SM back in 2004, and they've had a bit of a tumultuous history. This song is the title track of their second mini album after they went down to two. Released in 2010, lyrics were written by Jay, who is one of the members. Composer goes to Will Simms (TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Girls' Generation, Enhypen, LOONA, Red Velvet, The Vamps, The Pussycat Dolls, and a bunch of others, but probably the one that has my attention is Wolf by EXO), Jaakko Manninen (a lot of artists I don't recognize, but I do see Backstreet Boys and SHINee), and Jussi Nikula (again, artists I don't recognize, other than this song). No wins, unfortunately, but not every song worth a win gets a win.

• Group: TRAX
• Debut Date: 2004 July 20
• Company: SM Entertainment
• Status: Disbanded
• Album: Oh! My Goddess
• Song: Oh! My Goddess
• Release Date: 2010 September 06

So if you were wondering if that was Seohyun from Girls' Generation, that was in fact Seohyun from Girls' Generation. 

I have a question, and I need an old fan or someone who has been listening to TRAX or SM groups from the mid aughties, but do they also have lore like TVXQ! and EXO and SHINee? Because this music video makes me think that they might. It's a fairly mild music video, but the visuals here are stunning. We ger a lot of attention on Jay, and then a bit more attention on Seohyun, both of whom are gorgeous. We don't get as much attention on Jungmo as there should be, but he does look really good too. 

It's that very classic 90s, early 00s punk sound to it in the chorus while simultaneously being a bit...I don't know. It's got moments where it reminds me of a pipe organ in church, which is just the weirdest thing to be thinking in a rock song.

It's really weird. I know I've never heard this song, but it reminds me of the music I heard when my older siblings were still living with us, maybe a little bit later. It's just got this instantly nostalgic quality to it that sends me straight back in time. It's a very specific band sound that apparently transcends continental separation. 

The start of the song is just so iconic, and I have no problem with saying that. The rhythm of the first verse is so good. Are you hearing this? This is great. I know I'm not saying a lot about it, but honest to goodness, it's settling my brain down and just making me want to vibe with this. 

I had to look up what M-Wave was, and it's the precursor to Simply K-Pop. Nice. Plus, because this is Arirang, you get some information on the song in English, so if you're like me and you don't understand Korean super well, this is for you.

Good news is that the mic is live, because you can hear the difference when he backs off and turns his head and lets the backtrack have it, but also because he hypes up Jungmo. I love it so much when members hype each other up like that. 

There's one thing specific that I want to point out to you about this performance: his microphone. He's got that thing a surprising distance away at some points, which tells you how strong of a voice he's got. When artists hold their mic farther than about three inches from their face, my interest is always piqued. But even if you're like "Why do they have such low energy?", this isn't a high energy song. It's earnest and a confession, but it's not exceptionally dramatic or intense. It's sweet, you know? This is a man who knows she's out of his league and is still confessing anyway.

There's also something very, very adorable about this particular performance. After Jungmo's guitar solo (again, we get the "Guitar!" call and yes, sir, hype the guitarist up), Jay messes up the lyrics. He recovers quickly, but that slightly embarrassed, slightly amused expression as Person Jay momentarily breaks through Stage Jay is one of the things that makes me so happy to hunt down live performances. Live performances are unpredictable, but it's the tiny mistakes and variations that make them so fun to see.

This one is a fancam from almost exactly fourteen years ago. I'll come back to the official videos in a moment, but I wanted to make sure I included this one because I love the relaxed atmosphere here. This is how this song is meant to be performed. It's so welcoming. This kind of atmosphere is really where they shine. There's absolutely no awkwardness here, even when Jay messes up his lines again, and he and Jungmo exchange a glance and a smile. Jungmo seriously spends so much of this performance smiling, even just grinning. He laughs at the end, he laughs for the screams when he sings, he's just so bright here.

And yes, Jungmo sings and harmonizes with Jay. How am I not supposed to love this performance?

Music Core gave them fire and confetti, and Jay matches that energy, especially with that hype for Jungmo and the vibing in the background. 

The older fans, y'all know this. The younger/newer fans may not. Before the dedicated light sticks, there were balloons. This video kind of feels like a piece of history because we've got the balloons mixed in with some of the tube light sticks being waved in the crowd. I love that, which is why I'm sharing this one. 

I'm going to leave you with a slightly more chaotic fancam, this time in LA for SMTown. Jay flexes the English here, which amused me. No mess. No frills. Just two dudes rocking out on a stage. Again, they're having fun here, which is how this song needs to be performed. Jungmo is peacocking a little, and Jay is being a little bit of a menace, but all those people whose hand he touched probably enjoyed it. Some songs are meant for a massive stage; others are made for intimate settings. This one is the latter and when they get to shake off the limits of a serious performance, the song absolutely transforms, and so do they.

I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past. I felt a little bit like an anthropologist digging up K-Pop history hunting down clips for you all, but the song is so good that even though I've now listened to it probably about thirty times in a row, I'm still just vibing with it. This was fun. I'll hand this off to the user who messaged me and share it with you all as well. 

This is the jam. And the Way.

If you too would like for me to cover a song, leave a comment or drop a submission in The Form. It's a music journey for me too, and I enjoy getting to dig into songs like this and share what makes them so great.