[Single Review] UKISS- 'Stop Girl'

Let's just say I was deeply perplexed by this title. It seemed so wrong. Like if you were to use 'stop' in such a context, it would appear that 'stop' is an adjective, describing a girl to be very stop, whatever that means. How could someone be stop? Anyway, through further research, I found out that the song goes along the lines of guys falling in love with another girl (big surprise there, Ukiss) and them being unprepared, thus telling the girl of their infatuations to 'stop'. To just hold back. And that kind of cleared things up a bit....but that title still vexes. Why couldn't it have been 'Stop! Girl'? That exclamation mark just adds another dimension to the title, an added pop you know? And Kevin and Eli.........you guys were the English warriors of Ukiss, what happened? Why didn't you intervene with the title??? Ah, anyway, onto Ukiss.

I haven't really heard much Ukiss, even though they have been freakishly efficient in pushing out track after track this year. I mean with 'Doradora', 'Believe' and 'Neverland' later last year, it's safe to say that they have been pretty freaking busy. I heard those tracks like once before, maybe twice, just to try it out and get a feel of what Ukiss' style was. The songs DO sound uniquely Ukiss which is nice to know, given the range of aegyo counterparts in the girl group industry, that they were at least able to try out a sound different from other bands. However, this efficiency in pushing out tracks seem to have had detriments on the songs' quality. What I mean is that rather than focusing on one song, and perfecting it before releasing and blowing the brains out of everyone (eg. Brown Eyed Girls with 'Abracadabra' (2009) and 'Sixth Sense' (2011)), by Ukiss seems to just be satisfied with at least showing proof of activity by releasing yet another track ever so often, and it had turned out, none have really been mind-blowing. Which also explains why they haven't had a Music Bank win even after 4 years. Well, 'Doradora' was cool, which a cool dance to it, and a decently catchy chorus, and '0330' was good, but the rest were just pretty meh. So how would 'Stop Girl' match up to these? Could it be the breakout song (at least in my personal opinion) for Ukiss?

Ok, on my first listen, I felt a bit torn. Some parts of the song I felt were incredible in terms of raw emotion and harmonzing, but there were parts of the song which just fell flat and ruined the pace of the song somewhat. Let us analyse the song in beats of 20 seconds each. Take note I am using the timing from the music video so check it out for this to make sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XboGRNb1Fd8

0:00-0:20- This introduction is quite different compared to other songs in the Kpop world today. It has this really American pop feel to it, very Jason Derulo-esque or maybe Usher, with the incessant 'yeah's and that R&B techno synth beat in the background. It's good and really sets the tone for the song, a sort of moderately-paced hip-hop pop hybrid. A great start. Oh, and that dwindling run of notes towards the end is a nice touch, somewhat reminiscent of that of like Lil' Wayne tracks. 

0:21-0:40- Hoon's part kicks in with a somewhat pleading line, followed by a slight pause. This first line was quite mediocre especially to kick off the song. However, the next two lines, especially the last one really do it for me, with a really cool electronic meets R&B hiphop feel to it. Kiseop's lines follow the same pattern but without the awesome last line, which is replaced by Eli's ever-confident swaggy rap cut. This beat serves to set the tone, a rather sombre sound with really chill and swaggy beats. Not a bad combination, and it serves as a build-up for the next beat which differs slightly.

0:41-1:00- Now, Kevin's part has got to be the biggest part. I think his voice is quite high-pitched, thus it wouldn't really fit into this type of quick-paced speak rap portions, which seem really weak. And his last line seems autotuned to death and at the end of it, the pace really slows by a lot, which is disappointing. Thank goodness Soohyun picks it up with his part which though follow the pattern of Kevin's, have a really deep tone and this manly husk to it. Which really penetrate with emotion and bring the song right back up to speed.

1:01-1:30- I LOVE THIS CHORUS! It really reminds me of Usher, with the extended voice trails towards the ends of the lines and the variation in tone. The harmonizing too is brilliant and with regard to context, I think it really brings forth a sense of hesitation, but a form of confident hesitation if you will, like a plead for the girl to halt for a moment but with a composure so cool and suave that it's just awesome.

1:31-2:20- Pretty much the same as those above. Though Kiseop's and Hoon's exchange is really powerful and emotion-filled. Kevin still kinda spoils though...but Soohyun delivers gorgeously both in his part and in the interjection in the chorus.

2:21-2:40- The rap. Aah. Dongho's rap is good, and his tone is sort of flat throughout, not in a bad way but rather it has a purpose and a sort of attitude that comes with it. However, I prefer Eli's as you can hear his intonation a bit better and his voice also has that added fierceness which Dongho cannot replicate due to his tone I think. On a whole, the rap segments meld into the song quite seamlessly due to the R&B beat of the song giving the song some versatility when transferring to and from sentences. Really good job.

2:41-End- The awesome chorus strikes again. Not much to say here, but Kevin redeems himself a bit with the second chorus house, when he interjects with a couple verses. Here his voice does not sound as rushed and complements the chorus very well, adding a background, a back voice, a layer of emotion to the song. In fact, here he sounds a bit like Jesse McCartney with his youthful tone and all. Great ending to a great song on a whole.

So is this THE song for Ukiss? It's a brilliant song I must say, but honestly, I have this feeling they can do so much better. They are surely improving but if they can just keep their consistency, I am very sure THAT song is coming. The song to propel them to the mid-top tier alongside B2ST, B1A4 and 2PM.