Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
After a long journey under Pledis Entertainment, Pristin are finally debuting with “Wee Woo.” That’s supposed to emulate the sound of an ambulance, which is appropriate because I’m going to be murdered after that one Pristin stan finds this.
The teaser for “Wee Woo” teased at a disco sound, and thankfully that sound jumpstarts the release. I’m not quite sure what happened from there, though, because I found the rest to be a bit of error-prone product.
I’m not down on Pristin as group, as most of the problems I had with this stem from the production and structuring choices. Like “Wee Woo” is sung in the upper register as it is, which is fine, but why then try to go even higher? In the chorus one can almost feel the strain in the voices of the girls, and it kinda takes me out of what was otherwise a pleasant atmosphere. There’s also precious little room for vocals in this track, and the choice to go with this quasi-rap for most of the song was an odd one (since they have the vocalists), but it’s made worse by the decision to have the instrumental cut out at times and include this heavy bass section. In the end, there’s so much that’s trying to go on here, it’s as if it’s screaming for attention, but it comes off as a mess rather than unique.
That said, the chorus was sounding more like something from the 80s than anything else, and it would’ve been a standout section for me. Then the “wee woo wee woo wee” and the disco instrumental came in and made everything more fine than it should’ve been given the flaws, and that short section is the one chance the song has to make a lasting impression. Still, I had too many issues with it to recommend, and even after the initial shock wore off, repeat listens simply confirmed that the combination of all these elements detracted more than complimented “Wee Woo”.
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On the flip side of things, the music video was an extremely effective introduction to the group, combining individual personalities on the girls through their own sets, and then also meshing them in group shots that felt more expansive and active than they actually were.
Visually, both the girls and the sets worked with each other to pop out at you. In particular, Kyulkyung stole scenes, and even if the doe-eyed model look that Pinky rocks isn’t your type, it’s easy to see how valuable a member like her can be, as she stands out in a crowd and gives the group a recognizable face.
That can easily lead one down the rabbit hole to Nayoung…
…or Rena and others.
The group shots and sets also maintained the fun and light atmosphere, but also projected a subtle confidence throughout, which I thought to be a nice touch.
Also, all the bonus points for this…
…and this…
¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/hES6PabFQH
— Blackactarus (@blackactarus) March 21, 2017
…because these concepts are innocent.
I also enjoyed the occult twist at the end, where they were all in a room about to summon BABYMETAL or Dreamcatcher from hell.
It all becomes a lot better if you imagine this as the prequel to “Doki Doki Morning” or “Chase Me“.
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While I found “Wee Woo” a bit messy and overproduced, more importantly the song didn’t showcase what each member brought to the table either, and I didn’t find it catchy enough to make an impact. Contrast that with the music video, which was engaging from start to finish and also used a bunch of different elements, but still found a way to weave that into a cohesive outline of them as a group.
“Wee Woo” isn’t an ineffective introduction to Pristin, as I came away from this still interested by them and what they’re going to do going forward, but it’s difficult to not find yourself wishing that the song was as effective as the music video.
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