TWICE “Like OOH-AHH” Music Video & Song Review
JYP’s new girl group, TWICE made their debut on the 20th of October with their mini-album “The Story Begins” and their title track “Like OOH-AHH”. This debut comes highly anticipated due to the competition show “Sixteen”, in which this group of nine members was first formed. Did they live up to their potential with this title track? Here is my review on it.
Song
I love the instrumentals throughout the song, especially at the beginning and when it was building up to a climax. Most of the girls showed off their great vocals as well, in particular members Jihyo and Nayeon. It is a very catchy song and has a youthful feel with the girls cheering lines such as “I want to fall in love!” The chorus has a good hook, is filled with energy and is my favourite part of the song. The track is far from perfect, however, especially because of the massive overuse of autotune for non-vocalist members such as Momo. The rapping done by Chaeyoung and Dahyun was rather underwhelming however, especially because I’ve seen better rapping from Chaeyoung during “Sixteen”. So is the surprisingly sombre bridge, which got the original highly energized song screeching to a halt. It felt a bit disconnected from the rest of the song, which is unfortunate.
On the bright side, the lyrics of the song and cheers are cleverly worded. Apart from throwing in JYP Entertainment references (“Who’s Your Mama?”), there are puns on their name being used as well. Take for example the cheer they shout out before they sing the final chorus.
Better think about it TWICE
Let me see how you gonna treat me
I ain’t no easy
Better think about it TWICE
The song was good as a whole but was disappointing because TWICE has a lot more potential than they showcased. It was a surprise to me as well how the lines were quite evenly distributed, considering the fact that there are nine members in the group.
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Videography
I really didn’t understand the use of the zombies in this video and their relation to the song, but I’m happy to report that the rest of the music video is solid. It takes place in what is supposed to be a school but ends up looking more like a club. It’s pretty hilarious how there is a gigantic hole in the wall of a classroom and how the toilet has pink and purple lighting complete with glow in the dark scribbling. The video is colourful just like the personalities of the TWICE members and I really enjoyed the transitions from member to member as the specialities of each member was showcased.
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My favourite part of the video would be when the girls were gathered in front of the school bus dancing together with Momo (main dancer) standing inside the bus. Apart from showcasing her awesome skills (she was really shortchanged on the vocal part) it also featured TWICE dancing together as a group, instead of having them separated like they were for a majority of the video.
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The humor incorporated throughout the video also stands out to me because it gave the TWICE members a friendly and cute image, particularly when cheerleader Sana attempted to mimic the flexible movements of her members Mina and Momo and failed horribly at them. When the rest of the members got off the bus coolly Sana also managed to fall on the ground (in a cute manner of course). It just seemed so true to her playful character that I found it adorable and endearing.
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I have two main complaints about the video though. Firstly, the zombies were really unnecessary in the video. I’ve read some explanations online regarding the meaning behind the zombies and how they relate to the song but I would argue that this video would have been better off without them. It didn’t help that they were quite scary looking, or maybe I just have a low threshold for horror, but they somewhat ruined the aesthetic and fun vibes of the video. If TWICE had gone for a truly scary concept from the start the addition of the zombies would definitely have been more logical.
Next, it may be because TWICE are rookies, but there were some instances where the members’ lip-syncing was quite obviously off. While it did not really affect the video very much, it did take out some of my enjoyment of it.
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Styling
I absolutely love the styling for this video, be it their academic attire or their rooftop attire. The outfits were vibrant and interesting, in some cases they were even catered to the individual personalities of the members. Jungyeon, her messy hair and her gym tracksuit is a great example of this.
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I appreciate the fact that the TWICE members are not just trying to look pretty but that they want to be unique and have their own style. I can say with satisfaction that they have certainly succeeded in doing.
Overall Thoughts
TWICE was a group that I was expecting a lot from, especially because I had watched them in their trainee days through “Sixteen” and I was already a fan. There were many flaws evident in both the song and the music video, but as a whole I enjoyed it. This may not be the best work put out by JYP Entertainment this year, but it is a great start for TWICE and I hope that they will only grow from here.
TWICE 'Like OOH-AHH'
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