Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
LABOUM are back with “Shooting Love“, and I’m still excited even though they trolled the fuck out of me by not releasing this shit at midnight like normal groups would.
The cheerleader-esque intro verses and the softer pre-chorus sets up what is a quick-paced and lively chorus. Still, I was concerned about the track because the hook didn’t have a memorable moment, at least until the “oh bang bang bang boy” section, which redeemed the overall energy of the track with a signature moment.
The vocals setting up the second verse were perfectly timed and executed, and it continued the general theme of the track of having a lot of variety while maintaining a consistent tone and not coming off like a mess of a bunch of different songs mashed into one. The rap was another part that’s usually distracting but was well incorporated within the flow of the song, again speaking to the quality of the arrangement and organization of the track.
The instrumental for “Shooting Love” starts simple to compliment the chanting of the verses, and it effectively smooths out during vocal parts and picks up during the chorus. An interesting switch is that the constant “bassline” of sorts it the clapping sound, which pairs extremely well with the verses, but is generally overridden by drums during the hook for greater impact.
The more I thought about the song, the more I realized there wasn’t a ton to complain about with this release. All of the switches help the song carry momentum, and the peak of the hook means there’s always something to look forward to later. Thus, while I had worried a bit about the replayability at first, it actually got better in future listens. Nothing will top “AALOW AALOW“ (probably), but “Shooting Love” comes close enough for this type of pop release.
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The concept itself is a cute one, but it toes the line effectively in the sense that it’s not annoyingly/distrubingly childish and seems to incorporate more of a G-Friend style of choreo and aggressiveness to it that removes a lot of the worst parts about cute concepts.
In terms of the sets, they went with the “Hotline Bling” lighting and a pastel-colored house that’s actually quite great to look at. That doesn’t even cover the group’s visuals themselves, which are at a high-water mark with “Shooting Love”.
On a related note, I hope the way I die is Solbin gutting me and choking me to death with my own intestines.
“Shooting Love” BDSM drawer the best BDSM drawer.
The choreography also provides something to look forward to in terms of dance versions and live performances, so all around it’s a great use of a concept that frequently goes wrong for other girl groups.
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So “Shooting Love” is one of my favorite releases this year so far, both for the well-arranged, well-performed, catchy song, and because they effectively executed a basic concept in the music video that many others end up making creepy or annoying in one way or another. Not that it matters, of course, because for as quality of music releases as LABOUM have had, they’ve yet to chart within the top 100 yet. Hopefully this bucks the trend for them and gets them going on the way up.
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