Happy (Lunar) New Year everyone! I think, if what I briefly overheard someone say the other day is right, that Friday is the actual beginning of the Lunar New Year, meaning we are now in the year of the cow. It’s time to play that song by Doja Cat unashamedly all year. Bitch, moo. Etcetera. Given that 2021 has thus far proven that 2020 was not going to just be a 365-day deal, maybe today is actually the start of some new stuff. At least, let’s bloody hope so.
It probably would have been a clever idea to review Loona on the Lunar New Year, but hey, I didn’t think of that, so back off, OK? Today it’s day twelve of K-pop Goes February, and we’re on to Pentagon.
Who are Pentagon?
They are a ten, now nine, member boy group formed under Cube Entertainment in 2016. Two questions I can answer right off the bat here: yes, they really should have had five members, and yes, I have actually heard of Cube Entertainment! Rejoice! As far as my knowledge goes, I would actually say that Cube is in the second tier of famous companies after the big three/four, along with Starship Entertainment. Groups like BtoB, Beast, G-Idle and CLC are all from this company, though perhaps their most famous, and most former, employee is the superstar idol Hyuna. She is actually the reason that I’ve heard of Pentagon at all because, in 2018, she was revealed to be dating member E-Dawn. Now, if you know anything at all about K-pop, you’ll probably be aware that it’s not a genre that’s famously chill about idols dating. Like, at ALL. When this news was announced, it was such a big deal that both idols were dropped by Cube, hence why Pentagon is now a nine-member group. If you are an idol who dates another person, and specifically another idol, well, good luck. The industry is often pretty merciless with them. This isn’t overly relevant to the entire story of Pentagon except to note there is one fewer rapper after 2018, but it’s still an important note.
And before you thought we’d gotten away with no complicated origins, think again! This is yet another group who were formed from a music survival reality show, this time called Pentagon Maker. Though only seven members actually won this show to form a group, three more former contestants were eventually added for their debut. Go figure. So we already have fluctuating members, a scandal, and a company with a record of producing stars. Let’s go.
The First Song
That would be October 2016’s Gorilla, a slightly odd name for a K-pop track. The song makes heavy use of a jazzy, descending saxophone hook, repeated across the song’s chorus in such a way that it really, really reminded me of Jason Derulo’s Talk Dirty To Me. Which coincidentally, is my happy song: you just can’t be sad when listening to lyrics about a guy who wants to specifically fuck women who don’t speak English. Try it, you can’t. The lyrics of Gorilla are, obviously, are far less provocative, basically portraying a guy who likes a pretty girl who drives him to ‘thump on his chest, like a gorilla’. It’s a little more physical and intense than expressions of a crush normally are in K-pop, and the song is definitely leaning on the snazz provided by the sax, but it’s fun nonetheless. Also, for one section of the video, all the members are sat in a white classroom behind white desks in uniforms with the same terrible bowl haircuts. I don’t know if this is a direct reference to BTS’s NO, or if both are actually referencing something else, but regardless, not a good look hair wise. Glad it was only for that scene.
Five of the Big Hits
For these I picked what might be the most K-poppy selection of song titles we’ve yet had together: Shine, Humph!, Dr. Bebe, Naughty Boy and Daisy. What a mixture. These songs seemed to fall into two distinct categories: charming, almost cutesy, catchy pop bops, and ANGST. Shine, Humph! and Naughty Boy fall into the former category, utilising easy-to-chant melodies in their choruses, as well as single instrument hooks, like piano for Shine and Humph!. The latter also uses some kind of sound I am nowhere near expert enough to identify, so I’m just going to guess a keyboard. None of these songs seem to use much, if any, synth, which is refreshing, making the songs feel more paired back and intimate. All go for the ‘charming, cheeky schoolboy’ style vibe, used to most preppy effect in Shine. Naughty Boy is more of a dungarees-focussed video, with lyrics that were initially completely baffling, talking about green frogs and eating chicken. After watching a lyric explainer video, I learnt that this song is actually using the figure of a cheeky, contrary frog from Korean/Chinese fables to describe themselves as mischievous young guys who want to push against their bossy elder generation, but who still ultimately want to be loved. Much deeper than I initially thought. The music is also the most interesting here: the rhythm is almost reggae-like in the verses, creating a sing-song swing that is enhanced by gentle whistling hooks, and less produced, chanted vocals. It’s an odd song, but an endearing one.
Then we turn to Daisy and Dr. Bebe. There still isn’t much synth here, at least in Daisy, meaning we finally seem to be moving fully away from the EDM sound of so many groups. Daisy instead goes for electric guitars, distorted into fun little background riffs, but also building to a big, power ballad rock chorus. At the bridge we get another chant-a-long moment as the rhythm stomps out a stadium-style beat. The video features a suitable level of concerned faces glaring into the camera and emoting in the rain. Very emo indeed, especially compared to their other big hits. There is a similar tone in Dr. Bebe, opening strongly with yet another stomping rhythm. The rest of the song doesn’t quite live up, trying to hit the more aggressive side of angst through the character of the straightjacketed, screaming mental patient in the video. There are some violins swelling up towards the end of this dancier track, but it’s not really super memorable. It would seem like the ‘cheeky chappy’ side of this group is where their expressivity naturally lies, and not in the ‘darker’ concepts we see so much of anyway.
The Latest Song
Again with the giving the song a title that’s already famous! Pentagon’s latest track shares its name with The Bangles/Atomic Kitten’s banger, Eternal Flame, though this one was released in December of 2020. This one is also a slower-paced song, effectively almost a ballad. But sadly, without the iconic melody that its namesake has. The song is gentle and sweet, with some lovely chances to show off the members’ vocals and harmonies, but I can’t say it really stuck with me more than that. Bring back that funky frog song I say.
The Latest Album
Pentagon’s latest release is the October 2020 EP We:th. And no, I have absolutely no idea what that means or how to say it. Wikipedia tells me it’s a combination of ‘we’ and ‘with’, but the colon still mystifies me. Alas. Wikipedia does also tell me that the members helped to produce, write and compose this album, which is definitely something I am seeing more through the boy groups I’ve picked than the girl groups last week. Aforementioned Daisy features here, and was partly composed by two of the members. Obviously those guys like guitars.
These guitars continue through in a softer vein in Beautiful Goodbye. This feels almost like 30 Seconds To Mars at points, with the expanse of sound created by the production. However, the chorus steers back to more generic territory. I enjoyed Nostalgia much more, even though it’s a fairly simple song. It felt more in tune with what I heard from Pentagon earlier, with simple guitar riffs and dottings of chirpy piano. This song is the boys back to being charming and sweet. Everything completely changes in the tricksy You Like, starting with another cutesy opening, only to fade into beat-driven, much more hip-hop heavy with playful synth hooks and aggressive percussion. The cutesy piano backing comes back from time to time, but this song ultimately works so well due to its twist of these dramatic changes in style. The EP finishes, at this point completely unsurprisingly, with the synth-driven anthem-style song that seems fairly standard to end boy group albums these days. We have the fairly standard beat speed increase write up to the drop of the chorus, followed by more chanting and bouncy EDM stylings. It feels slightly unusual to hear this from Pentagon, who seem to have built a discography, at least from what I’ve heard, on not leaning into this trend. The rest of the EP is interesting enough to not go in this direction, so whilst the song is good, it’s a tiny bit disappointing to hear this as a closer. There is also an extra sixth track on this EP, I’m Here, by member Jinho, who is currently serving his military service. This track is apparently only available on the CD version (perque?) so alas, we shall not be looking at it here.
Thoughts?
The most exciting thing to me is that Pentagon do seem genuinely interested in creating a sound that isn’t entirely based around the dominant, EDM, synth-heavy sound. It’s certainly present in their music, but more important seem to be the catchy hooks and melodies, backed up by intriguing lyrics, as we can see from Naughty Boy. This allows them to show a lot more character than dark, angsty, or even hype hip-hop tracks can, which in turn distinguishes them from other groups working today. The scandal of a member, gasp, getting a girlfriend, doesn’t seem to have taken anything away from the music, which is possibly the most distinctly fun of any of the boy group music I’ve heard this week, with the possible exception of SEVENTEEN. The best praise is always if I want to listen to more by the group, which I absolutely do here. Those naughty little chicken-eating frogs got me.
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