Review: VIXX's Evocative 'Chained Up'

Over the past three years, VIXX has been rising fast as one of Kpop’s most impressive and most polished boy groups, and has carved out quite a name for themselves with their intense concept-based brand of music videos. Their most recent MV for the single "Chained Up," off their second full-length album (also titled Chained Up) is still easily recognizable as a VIXX MV, but enough of a step away for all those who were beginning to tire of the goth concept.

As a track, "Chained Up" is musically fairly different from VIXX’s other recent offerings. It doesn’t have the almost chromatic melody of tracks like "Hyde" or "VOODOO," but it also doesn’t have the bubbly, cutesy tones of "G.R.8.U" or "Love Equation." "Chained Up" has a definite groove, though, with a nice amount of EDM going on, and to me seems closer to a track like "B.O.D.Y" off the group’s first full-length album VOODOO. On a personal level, I really enjoy "Chained Up" – because, honestly, I loved the gothic concepts to begin with, but I never managed to become a big fan of "Error" or "Eternity" I wanted something that was a bit smoother to come my way. "Chained Up" is my jam, unashamedly – on my way to university this morning, I listened to it five times in a row.

As for the actual music video, "Chained Up" is a step away from the usual VIXX fare in some respects. There’s still the incredibly well-fitted suits, the heavy eye make-up and general lack of lighting. However, there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive story that a video like "HYDE" had. In "HYDE," the VIXX members were clearly struggling with their inner demons and trying to hold onto some semblance of their usual outward demeanors. In "Chained Up," there is clearly a very loose overarching plot of the members being imprisoned in some way – either surrounded by literal chains like Leo, trapped in a box like Ken, or in an incredibly shallow pit of water like Hongbin. There are definite points for trying with the symbolism there, but in terms of being "Chained Up," none of the VIXX members would have any trouble freeing themselves from their prisons (save for Ken, who doesn’t seem to have any way out of his extremely pretty flower cage). Ravi, for example, is just hidden behind some hospital curtains…and I’m pretty sure he could just burst through those at any time like he does towards the end of the MV. But that doesn’t even cover youngest member Hyuk, who just kind of looks at a set of stairs for a while and then sits down on them briefly.

However, the fact that the VIXX members could easily move from their prisons and choose not to is reflected in the lyrics. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the lyrics, while not explicitly sexual, have a definite sexual tone. The members of VIXX sing about how an unnamed person is their "love" and "controller," and how they’re "like a beast completely trained by [you]." So there’s a definite dominance/submission tone throughout the song. VIXX being stuck in situations which they, to an extent, don’t want to leave then starts to make more sense.

Either way, the symbolism of VIXX standing around and staring broodily off into space is lacking – but honestly, lack of symbolism doesn’t bother me one bit. I don’t think this MV has any great philosophical meaning, but I do think it works in an evocative manner. The MV is pretty, VIXX look great, and I thoroughly enjoy the song. I love the choreography, and I’m absolutely LIVING for those suits. I think attempting to argue that VIXX’s "Chained Up" doesn’t have any kind of plot or meaning is false - but music videos don’t always need to be Spielberg-worthy productions. Sometimes a jam is just a jam, and a video is just accompanying imagery to make the experience more enjoyable. That’s what I personally get out of "Chained Up," and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

Plus, just look at those shoulder wiggles.

Helen Edworthy is an English Sociology undergraduate who got lost in the world of K-Pop five years ago. She tweets at @captain_helen and her biases are UKISS and NS YoonG.

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 11: The Trio Returns!

Sarah's back! After a long hiatus, the trio returns! Join Sarah, Tim, and Zander as they talk about the new releases from f(x), Brown Eyed Girls, and Zico, and revisit BIG BANG and the magic of their live performance.

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 11: The Trio Returns! by Critical Kpop on Mixcloud

You can subscribe to the Critical Kpop Podcast on iTunes, or check this and future episodes out at www.mixcloud.com/CriticalKpop. You can expect a healthy serving of news, reviews, and critical analysis in every episode. The Critical Kpop Podcast is the only podcast that invites you to LISTEN HARDER.

This Week in Kpop: November 1-7, 2015

This Week in Kpop is all about the surprising comebacks. Brown Eyed Girls and Zico lead the pack here and we just don't know what to expect anymore! Let's stop stalling and get started already!

Brown Eyed Girls Are Back!

Brown Eyed Girls are back, friends, and nothing, NOTHING, will be the same. Well, most things at least! We were blown out of our socks with "Brave New World" - the song has a disco vibe but also a strange and killer science fiction twist. The video is stunning - provocative (just watch the male dancers performing the same choreography as the women, in similar attire), and holds a simmering sexuality that really pushes the envelope, of course it does. This is the Brown Eyed Girls that we know and love, so so much.

It's crazy to think that their last release was circa 2013 with "Kill Bill," a fun if not exactly spectacular single. Gain has been active, and Miryo released "Queen" this past summer, but to see all the girls together again is a real treat and should be treated like a gift. But has it been?

We've been hearing a mixed reaction over "Brave New World" especially, since it doesn't quite fit the mold of a popular Kpop release, but that be another reason we love it all the more. It takes a minute to figure out the tempo and a lot of the images are either shrouded in darkness (like many of the dance scenes) or will make you double take (Naked or Nude Suited Gain Colored in Glitter). The lines are just crazy, and the epic scale of some of the lyrics: "Who made the secret/all about the world, Have you wondered/all about the world" would be cheesy in lesser hands.

But this is Brown Eyed Girls we're talking about here, and everything they do is to the nth degree. They're the queens, surely, in an industry of princesses - and by that we mean that nearly everything they release (listen to Basic, it's an excellent album on the whole) sits on a different level. The level might be slightly skewed, or entirely off even, but whatever they're attempting is always compelling, strange, and so so cool.

And then, well, there's "Warm Hole," and um. Well, maybe you should watch it yourself first? We're still processing here.

Zico's "Boys and Girls"

Zico came back this week with a couple of different songs, but we're almost interested in his "Boys and Girls," which feels more fun and energetic, something closer to his Block B work than his recent (controversial) solo releases. This could be the song of the summer released in the winter so we question the timing of the release. Maybe the bathing suits are supposed to make us long for summer? Or perhaps, in Zico's life, summer is all year long? In any case, this is not the release we were expecting, but we're still digging it and the song is just super catchy and bright. What do you think of this shift, dear reader?

MV of the Month: IU's "Twenty-Three"

IU had her share of controversy this week that we just don't have the energy to go over (and, honsetly, we're just over internet outrage) - so you can read up on that on every Kpop site in the world, OR you can read about how amazing her MV for "Twenty-Three" is and how she gets our coveted MV of the Month for October. It's your choice. What type of person do you want to be? Make the right choice by clicking here.

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 10: Seventeen vs. Monsta X

Listen. We know that Monsta X and Seventeen are very different groups, but they are both rookie groups and they are both competing for rookies of the year. They also, for some reason, seem to have releases that coincide with each other. The Critical Kpop Podcast asks you to listen harder, so why not listen harder already?

November 1-7, 2015

And that was This Week in Kpop! What are you thinking about these surprising releases? We know that we're missing Rania's new release, but we'll write more about that when they're able to post their video on YouTube again! And now, we're off! Until next time, have fun and be safe!

MV of the Month: IU's 'Twenty-Three'

October was filled with killer music videos that will probably end up on our favorites of the year - but one stood out above the rest. We're talking IU's "Twenty-Three." Here's Zander Stachniak and Timothy Moore, discussing why IU gets the MV of the Month for October!

Zander: Well, Tim, I think we're in full agreement here that IU's "Twenty-Three" takes the prize this month. For me, that has everything to do with the way her lyrics, music, and visuals combine perfectly together to create a cohesive product. And even though this is an award for MV of the month, I just can't talk about "Twenty-Three" without talking about all three of those things. The lyrics demonstrate a playful uncertainty about what it means to grow up. I referred to that uncertainty as "inscrutability" in my review of the album, where almost every song intentionally mixes genres to create something that can't quite be categorized. And then there's the music video that, for me, perfectly matches that concept.

Tim: Yeah, there were some great videos in October - Twice's debut and f(x)'s 4 Walls being on the top of my list - but there was just something about IU's "Twenty-Three" that rose above the rest. I think your point about the cohesive product is a good one - I definitely love how the video matches the concept here. For me, I was thrilled to see IU in a new, surprisingly personal way. We've gotten IU, the young, lovelorn pop star, and in recent years we've gotten an IU that takes herself far more seriously - with her remake album and beautiful collaboration with Seo Taiji. So seeing a release so personal and so self-aware was a welcome change. 

Instead of looking for a love or looking to the past, IU looks inward - and the results are unbelievably charming. Just look at some of these lyrics: "...I want to be in love/No I rather make money" she sings, or, Zander, how about, "At first I never wrote/even a single line of lies," or "Even if I act rudely/People are always kind to me." She's singing about herself, her absurd life as a young pop idol, and the video perfectly conveys this quizzical outlook on her life. 

Zander: I would add Taeyeon's "I" to the list of strong October videos, but none of them come close to matching IU. There's definitely a sense of honesty about this release, but even that is couched within a fairly puzzling music video. 

IU is inhabiting the world of Alice in Wonderland, and that concept is anything but straightforward. The viewer follows IU down the proverbial rabbit hole, and the resulting imagery is duplicitous and kaleidoscopic. Is IU a bear or a fox? A woman or a young girl? Even the standard Kpop box is more reminiscent of an Escher drawing than regular geometry, and by the end of the MV we're firmly in acid trip territory. 

So I think that it would be unfair to only notice IU's seeming honesty in writing lyrics that apply to herself. Because even as she earns our trust, a wink and a Cheshire cat grin calls everything we think we know into question. To me, that is an incredibly powerful, but subtle, form of artistry. Again, without a strong sense of cohesion, I think this concept might not work. But it does, and I dig it!

Tim: I'd argue that this mischievousness is an essential part of her personality which is why she earns my trust, but I don't want to split hairs, or even hares (no one wants to see that!). You've nailed it by bringing up the acid-trip nature of the video. Just about every video that IU' has released this side "Marshmallow" is a cinematic treat - plucked from an imaginary movie screen. You watch "You & I" and it's like you've stumbled onto a convoluted children's fantasy. Heck, I'd pay to see that movie! 

And sometimes they take it a bit too far - like with "Every End of the Day," which is a video that makes another grab at authenticity but, unlike "Twenty-Three," feels short. The faux interview segments feel staged and we linger with IU in photo shoots, eating breakfast, drying her hair, for oh I don't know seventeen freaking minutes until we finally get a song, with a segment that involves IU spending her day with her unseen companion (hint: it's supposed to be you). I find this segment a bit creepy, but that's besides the point - the point is that it takes twenty-seven minutes of fake documentary work to paint a picture of IU - and while the video is beautiful, it falls short of doing so. 

Which brings me to my last point - "Twenty-Three" is just under four minutes long and it keeps that cinematic quality (it's a beautiful video - with stark blues and blacks), but with the crazy animation, costumes, and props that bring to life this song, this feels 1,000% more authentic. It's true to itself as a cohesive release, and, even with the contradictions (and, for me, because of them), it's true to IU. 

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 10: Seventeen vs. Monsta X

Which boy group will be the debut artist of 2015? Both Seventeen and Monsta X have released two brilliant mini albums, making strong cases for themselves. Join Tim and Zander as they break down these two debuts in another guys' night in episode of the Critical Kpop Podcast. Oh, and iKON makes an appearance too!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 10: Seventeen vs. Monsta X by Critical Kpop on Mixcloud

You can subscribe to the Critical Kpop Podcast on iTunes, or check this and future episodes out at www.mixcloud.com/CriticalKpop. You can expect a healthy serving of news, reviews, and critical analysis in every episode. The Critical Kpop Podcast is the only podcast that invites you to LISTEN HARDER.

This Week in Kpop: October 25-31, 2015

This Week in Kpop is brought to you by walls. Four of them, in fact. Yes, we're hyped by f(x)'s return, but have also been caught off guard here. What do we mean? Let's delve right in, friends!

Art House f(x)

f(x) is back! So why are we so unnerved? We've been trying to figure that out all week! It's not necessarily the art house theatrics of the music video - f(x) has already begun veering towards that distinction with last year's incredible (and ultimately abstract) "Red Light" music video. We haven't even tried to dissect the video for "4 Walls" ad nauseam yet (we'll save that for the Podcast), although there are some masterful shots and interesting character-switching...and a freaking horse, that we could and should try to decipher (you've probably already read YouTube and Reddit theories, in which everyone with a computer or smartphone can become an expert [yes, we know, pot meet the kettle]).

The fact is, we like the fact that f(x) makes videos that beg for deeper interpretation. Even if the commentary is way off (and often, who can know for sure?), the interpretation the audience arrives at is often more interesting than the original intention. So, please - give us your theories!

But if "Red Light" is similar in artistry to "4 Walls," it's still much closer to "Rum Pum Pum Pum" or even "Electric Shock" in presentation. There's choreography, there's an ecstatic energy, there's the box!, that is completely absent from the more muted and Instagram-filtered "4 Walls." It's a dramatic shift, and for us, f(x) fans to the end, it will take some getting used to. Which is not to say we're not digging it. "4 Walls" gets better with each view (and listen), but it will take some time to register as an f(x) release to us. We're going to give this more time, but don't worry, we'll recover and give a closer look at this important release soon!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 9: Halloween Edition

With all this talk of walls, we've nearly forgotten to say: Happy Halloween, friends! Why not celebrate the macabre with a ceremonial carving of a pumpkin and a listen to the only podcast that invites you to, as they say, LISTEN HARDER? This week, Zander and Tim tackle their favorite spooky videos (like Wings' "Haircut" here), and break down exactly what it is they love about Halloween. Listen here, friends!

Review: IU's CHAT-SHIRE is Inscrutably Good 

As you must know, IU is back with a brand new mini-album! So what happens when a non-IU fan tries to give a full, honest review? Zander Stachniak tackles CHAT-SHIRE as best he can right here.

From Fame to Infamy: The Harmful Naivety of Bias

Listen. We all have our biases. That's what Kpop is rooted in, dummy! But what happens when your bias crosses a line? What then? Helen Edworthy examines these issues here!

The Idol Grows Up (Or Does She?) 

We had a full plate of article this week, after taking a hearty focus on our podcast! This welcome return to writing is due in large part to an influx of submissions and ideas from our readers. Take, for example, this article on IU, Lim Kim, and Song Jieun, and their videos concerning coming-of-age, written by Timothy Moore. This idea for the article was submitted by a reader named Suzanne! We're always looking for ideas and submissions - so send us an email sometime. We can't do this alone!  

October 25-31, 2015

And that was This Week in Kpop! We had one of our most packed writing weeks in a long time and we feel re-energized! But now it's Halloween weekend and time to party. Anyone out there dressing up in a Kpop-related costume? Send us a picture already! We, on the other hand, will be listening to f(x) all weekend in preparation of a more thorough dissection. Until next time, have fun and be safe!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 9: Halloween Edition

Happy Halloween! This week gets spooky on the Critical Kpop Podcast as Tim and Zander discuss their favorite Kpop horror music videos: Vixx, SHINee, Wings, and more! The guys also break out of the box to discuss the theory of horror, the uncanny, and the weird! Tune in!

Critical Kpop Podcast - Episode 9: Halloween Edition by Critical Kpop on Mixcloud

You can subscribe to the Critical Kpop Podcast on iTunes, or check this and future episodes out at www.mixcloud.com/CriticalKpop. You can expect a healthy serving of news, reviews, and critical analysis in every episode. The Critical Kpop Podcast is the only podcast that invites you to LISTEN HARDER.