they’ve got chunks of songs that I like, and chunks of songs that I think are pretty meh, and a couple of standout songs that are really quite fun. A lot of it felt very boyband-y to me, Western boybandy. Which, I’m not against the Western boyband sound, I think it’s often super enjoyable and engaging, but I also think it can lend itself to a rote type of song that’s a little bit bland. I associate Eastern pop, K-Pop and J-Pop in particular, with a specific harmonic language and effective sound library that is distinct from Western boyband (despite obvious similarities). Whenever N.Flying engaged with those Eastern pop sound ideas more, I liked them a lot, I thought they did it super well and it was tons of fun. When they engaged more with what I think of as the Western sound, they would start to lose me. That’s mostly vibes, that’s me talking out of my ass, but that’s what my ass says.
All that to say, I enjoy them by and large, and they have significant chunks that I do get into, that are a jam. I’m gonna give a low B+. I dunno that I’m a fan, I’m not invested in them as a group, but they’ve got lots of stuff I enjoyed a lot. This is only the second K-Pop group I’ve listened to, the first being Stray Kids. I think I like Stray Kids a fair bit more, I think they do most things better. On the music side of things, at least. I have no awareness of either groups’ dancing or media presence or whatever else, and I know that those are all important parts of the K-Pop experience, I just don’t care and have no interest in caring. Well, that’s not quite true. I could see myself having interest in it intellectually, academically, in researching it as a social and cultural phenomenon. I just have no interest in it for myself. That’s an aside, the point of bringing up Stray Kids is to say I’m pretty sure I like them more and the only reason I’m ranking N.Flying higher is because I’m planning a relisten for Stray Kids soon which I predict will move them up at least a little higher.
Anyway. B+, pretty enjoyable but nothing special. Good stuff.
This is not super important, but the album cover I chose for them is for what they call their first album. They’ve got like half a dozen half albums before that, and a full length Japanese record, but this is what they’re calling their first album and I don’t care enough to decide otherwise. Amusingly, I haven’t listened to this record, Man on the Moon, because they rereleased it in a different order with a couple new tracks, basically a Deluxe version by another name, and I listened to that instead. But yeah, that’s the thought behind this being their “first album” picture. Doesn’t really matter, but eh
N.Flying complete, now listening to: Benson Boone
tunafruitsandwitch 