Mini-album review: f(x) - Electric Shock

Back in the days of "LA chA TA" my scepticism ran rife on whether the K-Pop scene needed yet another group of girls parading on stage wearing a mixture of Topshop and a rail of Jeremy Scott's range of Adidas, looking like they were styled by a runner on Sesame street. There wasn't much to distinguish this group other than one of the members being a 'tomboy'. But over time f(x) just kept veering off the well beaten path, showing a level of musical growth, freshness and wide-eyed naivety amidst a field of girl groups who did the expected and not a great deal more. It's almost shocking that this group is handled by the same evil corporation responsible for the vanilla as hell Girls' Generation.

Quite early on it was clear that f(x)'s coming of age album would probably never come, seeing as their music was so far ahead of what girls their age in K-Pop probably should have been releasing from the start. But Electric Shock is affirmation that f(x) have a niche. And that niche is to just do it all. It shouldn't work, but lo and behold.

f(x) are able to make any style work. Electric Shock on the whole is Pop, on the technicality that it's the easiest pigeon hole to sling this release into. But it pulls from so many genres that they blur within the first couple of tracks of this album. SM entertainment had long become smitten with dipping into the creative song pool of non-Korean songwriters, and Electric shock features the songwriting talents of Xenomania's honorary member Niara Scarlett and Karen Poole of Alisha's Attic, who have penned many a top 10 UK chart hit. Say what you will about Slave Monger Entertainment, but they know how to pick hits, and Electric Shock is 6 tracks full of them. Even the weaker songs on the album have enough stride in them to be hits and out-do what most of veteran girl groups were releasing.

The album kicks off with "Jet". Which is big, bold, funky and fun. It's like Sonic CD's "You Can Do Anything (Toot Toot Sonic Warrior)" meets Gary Numan. "Love Hate" continues on down this Gary Numan-esque route, but fuses it with a vibe and an energy which is very Cheerleader like and "Mickey"-esque. Either of these songs would have made a far better lead song than "Electric Shock", as they're better representations of f(x)'s sounds. "Zig Zag" has a Hip-Hop lite vibe about it thanks to the Pharrell Williams sounding cowbells and drums. The 'urban' which carries through to the heavy-hitting "Let's Try", a song which wouldn't sound out of place on Rihanna's Loud or Talk That Talk albums. These songs shouldn't sit so well together, but they do. And if other acts on the SM roster were to do them, they wouldn't work, but f(x) runs rings around them.

What makes f(x) stand out is that there is no one member who dominates on songs. Aside from Amber's distinctive raps, it's difficult to tell where one members' mic time starts and another ends. Sometimes you'll have all 5 members on one verses, switching from line to line. And when the choruses' hit, you can hear (what sounds like) every member singing and giving us harmonies and vocal arrangements, which makes a nice change from the standard of each member just being given a verse and choruses where there's one dominant vocal. Or instances like Girls' Generation, where you have 9 girls in a group, but a chorus where you can only hear about 4 of them singing.

Given all that I've said thus far, Electric shock is not perfect. Things fall off a little with the album title track and "Beautiful Stranger", both of which dip their toes into the pool of same ol', same ol'. So many elements are pulled from for this mini album that it was was inevitable that there would be a couple of songs which distinctly sound like something you've heard before, and "Electric shock" and "Beautiful Stranger" are those songs. "Electric Shock" does the whole David Guetta, Fuego, Swedish House Mafia, Europe club style that K-Pop had run so far into the ground that they've discovered new forms of sedimentary rock. And "Beautiful Stranger" sounds like the dime a dozen dark ominous uptempo jams about a love gone wrong we've heard saturated in numerous, identical forms. But what really makes these songs falter is that they're just too safe and basic for a group like f(x), on a mini-album which features such fun and sonically interesting songs.

Electric Shock is a good lil' mini album which covers all bases; being palatable to K-Pop fans, but sitting on the fringes just enough to rope in those who have been eluding K-Pop for reasons. f(x) were always the wild cards. The ones who you couldn't quite pin genre and style wise, but knew to keep a watchful eye on because of their volatility and versatility. Sure, every K-Pop group is doing Electro- Pop. But few are pulling it off in as fun, a cohesive and non-derivative way as f(x) have managed here.

👍🏾 There be bops
👎🏾 "Electric Shock" and "Beautiful Stranger" are oddly safe and generic

VERDICT: JUST LIKE A BUTTERFLY

Highlights:
■ Jet
■ Zig Zag
■ Love Hate 🏆
■ Let's Try