Battle of the B-Sides:: NMIXX: Tank

 Welcome to May and the first of my themed months! All of the songs have something in common, although there are two songs that are probably going to make it very obvious what I'm doing. And why did I pick this song first? Because of the list of songs I'm planning on doing for May, some of them needed to be at certain times. The remainders I popped into a poll and tossed it onto Tumblr. So, the Tumblrites picked this one to be first, which is a surprise. It wasn't the song I was expecting to be chosen to go first, but that's okay because we're starting May off with a bang.

That comment will be funnier in a couple of weeks. As is the song that just started playing on my playlist.

NMIXX debuted as a seven-member group under JYP Entertainment in 2022, and are down to six after one of the members left. Rumor is they're going to be getting a younger sister group here pretty soon, like this year or maybe early next, which is exciting for them. Also, one of the members passed the audition for TS Entertainment back in the day. Phew. Dodged a bullet there.

Tank is the first track of NMIXX's debut single, AD MARE. And there is a bit of a list of song-writers here so buckle up. We have Dr. Jo (IU, Purple Kiss, EVNNE, TWICE, Yubin, Oneus, ITZY, gugudan, Moonbyul, ONEWE, Solar, ASTRO, Verivery, AOA, Apink, and ASC2NT), Dem Jointz (looking at this list, suddenly all of these songs make sense) (BTS, aespa, NCT, Jennie, EXO, IVE, GOT the beat, TWICE, SHINee, KiiiKiii, Taeyeon, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Super Junior, Red Velvet, DXMON, The Boyz, IDID, Jamie, U-Know, and Kangta), Ryan S. Jhun (LOONA, Kangta, KiiiKiii, EXO, Victon, NCT, I.O.I, ITZY, VAV, IVE, aespa, SuperM, Loossemble, GOT the beat, SHINee, Enhypen, Weeekly, Taeyeon, KARD, UNIS, Oh My Girl, YooA, Monsta X, TWICE, Pentagon, Jamie, P1Harmony, fromis_9, GFRIEND, VIVIZ, Sistar19, Purple Kiss, TVXQ!, VVUP, WJSN the Black, Kim Woojin, Red Velvet, CLASS:y, IZ*ONE, H1-KEY, DXMON, LUNA, WANNA ONE, Girl's Day, HITGS, UHSN, Lee Hyori, f(x), EL7Z UP, Super Junior, E'LAST, bugAboo, ZEROBASEONE, INFINITE, 82MAJOR, BTOB, cignature, 1THE9, Yeeun, TWS, Minhyun, The Boyz, GWSN, MIRAE, BAE173, Fantasy Boys, Cravity, Sevenus, Kang Daniel, iii, Baby DONT Cry, CIX, JUSTB, LUN8, Cross Gene, Fiestar, VANNER, POW, Moon Jong Up, UNB, Boys Republic, Ren, 15&, Luminous, AOA, WHIB, and Verivery), Oh Hyunsun (ILLIT, Enhypen, UNCHILD, EPEX, NCT, Rescene, CIX, TVXQ!, and Rocket Punch), Jeong Joonho (SF9, MAJORS, Sungmin, lilli lilli, LUMINOUS, Jay, Nam Taehyun), Jessica Oh (EXO, Victon, IVE, WOOAH, XODIAC, Bain, Girl's Day, Haechan, 82Major, NCT, CLASS:y, iii, VIVIZ, VANNER, Apink, Ailee, EL7Z UP, The KingDom, Fantasy Boys Ren, TIOT, Crayon Pop, and D1CE), Ericka Coulter (EXO and OH MY GIRL), Deanna Dellacippa (Red Velvet), and Matthew Jaragin.

Just as a reminder, this is a debut era song, but even if the group weren't from one of the Big 3 companies, this likely would have been enough to make people take notice. The first line of the song is "Incoming!"

Accurate. This isn't even the title track and yet it's showing up like it is.

It's big and bold and slams the group into the industry instead of gently easing them in with coyness and cuteness. There's a military snare drum, for crying out loud, and the chorus has all the catchiness of barbed wire. I will always maintain that no matter where a group goes after, musically, the debut era music is the core of a group's identity. NMIXX chose unruly violence, and I mean that in the best way.

I'm looking at the lyrics right now. They're in a different window, and while I am looking at the lyrics so I know what they're actually saying (which is "Freaky, fresh, fresh, I'm so-" repeated), and I recognize that the extra syllables are the result of what happens in order to get a "sh" sound from the Korean language, but what I'm hearing is "Freaky, fresh, and fishy". I've heard worse English lyrics, so until I actually looked at these lyrics, I didn't think anything of it because ATEEZ has a song with the word "fishy" in it as well. I was actually a little impressed that they were using slang for "suspicious." But this makes a lot more sense, and I'm happier with this, even if I can't unhear what I'm hearing. I'm sorry if that's now what you hear as well, although comments tell me that no, I am not the only one. That's a relief, honestly. 

The best part of the chorus is that if, like me, you have a moment of resignation with this song over the repetition of the chorus, the thing that cuts through the unrelenting instrumental and the alliteration and consonance like an ornate letter opener is the haunting and ethereal vocalizations. What's cool about that is normally you get the reverse happening. You have the singing, and then something loud and aggressive comes in for a texture addition and change. I don't mind it when that happens because I like texture changes. It's a lot rarer to get what Tank gives us, and every single time that I hear that chorus, my ears perk up because of it. We get that vocalization a couple of times, which threads through the song like a raspberry swirl in ice cream.

And then, after all of this loud energy built to punch you in the face, the bridge comes sweeping in like a dress made of moonlight and silk. The instrumental changes to a slow snare drum for the beat and a piano gently shifting quietly underneath the vocals to create that liquid sense of movement, to slow down the song and give you a moment to breathe before your knees get kicked out from underneath you again by the chorus, but this time it's doubled so you don't even get the expected reprieve you had gotten earlier in the song.

Starting off the performances, as per usual, with Music Bank because then you get both the lyrics and the member singing, which is one of the most important things for someone who is being introduced to a group or hasn't memorized what the sound of each member inhaling sounds like. 

I think it's really interesting that three of them have the same design on pieces of their clothes, the crescent moon in red or blue, but none of the three have it on the same part. I also really appreciate their stylists putting most of them in pants because I imagine that it might be a lot more comfortable doing some of those moves in pants as opposed to a skirt with safety shorts on. Although, I'd just like to say that I love how powerful Kyujin's legs look, and the part where she's showing them off best, is the part where she's up front during her part of the chorus. Like, when she's doing the little microjumps at 2:22, you can very clearly see her muscles tensing and shifting so that she can do them easily.

Obviously the most watched part of this music video is the bridge, but Sullyoon at 2:04, staring down the camera, is such a fitting part of the song that I almost feel like the camerawork there yanks some of the teeth of the impact as it's trying to land. Jinni, on the other hand, at 2:14, gets a little bit longer with her closeup, but her smirk is equally fierce and fitting. And the effect at 1:58 to match with the word "mirage" was very well done. 

This one was done for Hello 82 in June of that year. 

We've got a mixture of long pants and shorts for the styling this time around, and only two of the members have no protection for their knees. I feel bad for those two if this was done in LA, which it probably was. Concrete is unpleasant during the summer. 

But listen to that crowd. The cheering at the beginning startled me before I smiled just because of how loud it was, and then the "Let's go!" at 2:42 was so clear. And what might be the fanchant at 2:12 was also so loud.

I really like the look and feel of the camera and the performance at 2:13. It feels so dynamic, and even the lighting looks like it was planned that way. Highlight of the performance for me right there. Gorgeous.

However, and I say this knowing how much I love little mistakes and accidents during live performances because real people are performing and real people make mistakes, the second most interesting part starts at 2:17. Haewon is over there, doing her thing, looking gorgeous in her cute jeans and blue, tied half-cardigan. Then her mic falls and hits the ground (hopefully it didn't break). Luckily, she didn't have another singing line after that and also luckily, the song was almost over, but the dramatic microphone saga continues, because then at 2:32, Kyujin steps on the microphone and slips a little bit (again, hopefully it didn't break). And kudos to Kyujin for correcting almost instantly and not looking down because I absolutely would have. 

And we've got a Studio Choom version of this! Nice!

They're not quite fully matching, but it's close enough and they're obviously a matching set, but it's also a very fluffy set of outfits. We don't just have puffed sleeves, which I've had a weird love for ever since the first time I watched the Megan Follows Anne of Green Gables movie because puff sleeves are magnificent, but we also have the corresponding equivalent for their pants. Puff pants? I feel like that's actually a thing and not what we're looking at right now. But you know what I mean?

Also, I haven't said this a lot yet, but Lily's vocals are just out of this world. They're stunning. (I also heard her Golden cover and I kind of fell in love with how impressive it was). Her part in the bridge and her vocalizations throughout are some of the most siren-like I've ever heard. 

And Jiwoo's expressions here are so much fun. I mean, look at her, starting at :43 when she and Jinni are passing it that back and forth. Girlie is looking fierce, and I am here for this.

This was from 2023 in Sydney for the Wild KPop Music Fest. And a fancam! It's been a hot minute since I included one of those, but I like this one because the hand is steady and the video is clear. This is a good fancam though. 

And I'm telling you, this song needs to be performed in pants. Look at this. This was also after they'd become six, and Bae got a lot of Jinni's old parts.

And look at the difference a year makes. Now, granted, we're going to be looking at the dance practice in a moment, but that was back with seven and this is a good showing of what this looks like with six, so you can compare, if you'd like.

It is time, everyone! The dance practice is here!

First of all they're giving us some big footstomps and the sound is so satisfying with the instrumental. One of the biggest moments for that is at :36 and it's a great physical embodiment of the heavy beat. But this is some powerful choreography. Give it a couple of changes and hand it to their company seniors, Stray Kids, and realistically, it wouldn't feel too out of place. That's how strong this is.

It is constant movement, most of it aggressive, with a lot of big arm and leg motions, and the evidence of the amount of effort they have to put into this song is easy to hear because how hard they're panting at the end of this. 

One of my favorites sections of the choreography is at 2:09 with the transition from that gorgeous, elegant bridge to an explosion of heavy and aggressive choreography. It's such a great way to end the song.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Sorry this was so late. The trip this weekend was unpleasant. My mother said that having her alternator go out while driving in Montana back in the day still wasn't as bad as everything we went through. I didn't have the normal time I would have to work on this.

Still! It's over! We're back with NMIXX! And May and its secret theme has begun! Any ideas about what I'm focusing on? Let's see if the next one helps any.

If you've got any songs you'd like me to cover, I'm still working on planning for June and July is basically open. Unless you've got something time sensitive, then I'll do my best to get it out for then. Either way, drop a comment or toss it my way by filling out The Form! Thanks for reading!

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