They’re back to hit the world with a rocket punch, or maybe just give it a little ring ring this time around. Much like WJSN, this is a group that I go into with pretty high expectations, because they’re one of my favorites, so let’s get right in and see how these Woollim women did this time around.
The Video
This is shameless, and absolutely wonderful. Ring Ring’s video is so incredibly optimistic and campy, leaning so into the retro theme in a way that makes it clear it is also not actually retro at all, and it works to the top degree. If you aren’t going to have a plot, you need to make up for it elsewhere, through directing and editing, camerawork, general visual quality, or theming, usually multiple of those, and this video pulls that off. Everything from the sets to the outfits to the amazing choreography really bring the whole video together into a fantastic visual experience. The headphone dance in particular should feel so cheesy and dumb, but it has such an excess of charm that it just makes you smile instead.
The group also deserves a lot of credit here, they could have been more shy, but this is Rocket Punch, so they absolutely just threw themselves into it, and you can tell they were having a blast. I also want to highlight a little bit more of the stylists, the outfits were great, really evocative of the retro time period but they felt modern instead of dated, that’s a fine line to tread. I also want to particularly point out Yeonhee, wow, she just owns this concept like nobody’s business, everything suits her so well, from the styling, to the dance, she could do this concept anytime and thrive.
Rating: 9.5/10
I love this, I am all about fun, campy, cheesy, and retro, so this really brought a smile to my face, I felt like Thanos. It doesn’t really do anything innovative, which would be a ding against it, but when the concept is retro, doing something innovative would feel kinda wrong.
The Songs
Ring Ring- From the get-go the beat is clearly and cleanly bringing a strong A-ha vibe, but then it mixes it up, so you get the nostalgic vibe to set the mood, and then get a nice fresh new song, great production choices here. This has the best rap sections from a Rocket Punch title track so far, and the variety between the vocal and rap verses, the chorus, and the bridge is enough to keep it varied and interesting the whole time. I also commend them for just having an honest chorus that is high energy instead of getting tricky. I like tricky chorus pacing, but this straightforward high energy chorus approach is starting to feel like the mix-up, everybody keeps trying to be tricky now. I also really like the way Suyun does her building high notes, not straight up into the top part of the note, instead she takes a few steps up, making it more of a dynamic run than just a high note that is there to, well, be a high note.
I Want You Bad- Rocket Punch slow songs sometimes just hot in a completely different way than the majority of slow songs, with more interesting instrumentals and dynamic songwriting. I am not a slow song fan, but this one is going into my playlists, it keeps you engaged and participating in the listening experience instead of just softly floating by. Also something about the chorus here feels almost unresolved, specifically the first lines, which puts me on edge, but in a good way.
Ride- Not a cover of the Twenty-One Pilots song, which would have been cool, but they forged their own path, and it’s a good one. This is a great time to talk about album construction though, even though this only has three songs. Album construction is really underrated in modern music, because things are all streamed and people pick and choose, but there are people like me that still sometimes like the experience of listening front to back, and a lot of artists mess this up. There needs to first be variety, slow songs are good, but they can’t overwhelm or drag down what’s around it. The speed changes are important but must be controlled, additionally, the musical themes should form a thread that goes across every song in the album. Woollim got this so right on Ring Ring, Ride maintains that retro vibe while not being exactly the same as what came before, and despite the speed changes going into and coming out of I Want You Bad, nothing feels out of place, it’s the perfect amount of variation and slow down, without overcompensating in either direction during the two song changes. Ride is great, but listening to it really made me think about how well constructed the album is. It's a great wrap up to the album experience, which in itself is a retro vibe too.
Rating: 9.5/10
This album is just put together correctly, with a fantastically fun video and three great songs. I’m really happy I can rate this so highly, as I was dubious of a retro concept change. The group and the team behind them clearly worked really hard to bring it together to a level that I honestly didn't expect, and now Rocket Punch deserves no doubt with whatever they try next, they’re a dynamic group. Also, I have said before I’m biased towards the retro concepts, which definitely helps, but what do expect from a man who keeps a record player within arms reach of his desk?