Sistar (Left to Right: Soyu, Bora, HyoRin, Dasom) So Cool
Sistar is a four member girl group signed under Brave Sound Entertainment who also have groups such as Brave Girls. They recently came out with a new song and music video to debut their new album called 'So Cool'.
I have mixed feelings about this song and music video... On one hand, I'm a Sistar fan. I loved Shady Girl and Push Push and even How Dare You was pretty good (though not as good as Shady Girl in my opinion) but when I first listened to this song and watched the video I was a little - no really - disappointed. I mean, Sistar is a good group. They have four talented, beautiful girls but when you watch this video you think: WHAT HAPPENED TO SISTAR?
Look at that picture. Don't they all look gorgeous and beautiful? Especially HyoRin (who if you've seen my Blonde Asians Hall of Fame) is absolutely to die for in her blonde hair.
When I heard Sistar was releasing a new single I was ecstatic. HyoRin proved she had those amazing vocals when Ma Boy by Sistar19 came out and Bora proved she had swagger, grace and beauty all in one rap so I thought, if Sistar19 is THIS great then shouldn't Sistar be even better because they have two more amazing girls to add on to the already dynamic duo?
No.
Let's start with the song, shall we? I thought it might be like 'I Am the Best' (2NE1) again, where I listen to it for the first time and think I don't like it then listen to it again and somehow get completely head over heels in love with the song, so I listened to 'So Cool' several times. I'm even still listening to it now as I write this review to get myself into the mood since I'm writing about it, but I just can't stand the song.
It's repetitive, repeating 'I wanna rock, rock it like this' over and over again and then 'Yeah I feel so cool, cool, cool,' it's like it never ends. And the beat sounds way too familiar as if I've heard it from another song somewhere out there. It sounds like a cheesy club beat if anyone gets what I'm saying? On top of that, the song isn't very much a memorable one... Especially in a year like this where SHINee is making a Japanese comeback with songs like Kiss Kiss Kiss and Super Junior with Mr. Simple and 2NE1 with Ugly, Hate You and I Am the Best. A song like this is not going to stick in people's heads when all those other glorified idol groups are out there making smash hits that take over the global population.
I did, however, slightly enjoy Bora's rap, despite the fact that I found it super cheesy and it kind of reminded me of Hot Summer by f(x) for some reason... 'I'm cool like ice-t', really?
Not only is the song not a memorable one (I'm still in shock at how it managed to get to number one...) but HAS ANYONE SEEN THE DANCE?! There should be a law against all that booty shaking and butt fanning. Many people have commented calling it the "fart-fanning dance" which I find very suitable for this. For me, though, that wasn't the only thing that stood out about the dance. I took the time to watch each of Sistar's and noticed similarities in their dance moves. It might be just me, but I swear I can see bits and pieces the same as each dance. Maybe their choreographer is getting lazy? I don't know, but he needs to grab a cup of coffee and start making some better dances.
This makes me conclude that the dance isn't memorable. The only way it's memorable now is because of the infamous fart-fanning move.
Next on my list of WHAT-THE-HELL-WAS-THIS is the music video. I understand how they want to look "so cool" but why the cheap looking rhinestone covered dresses? I don't find that the dresses flatter their bodies in any way... It looks like a child's dress up dress to me. I also noticed that the back ground was just the same, flashy back ground as all other Kpop music videos seem to be sporting. I'm getting sick of seeing flashy lights that blind me and look really bad. Miss A in Breathe managed to rock the flashy back ground, 2NE1 manages to work the flashy back ground, Super Junior even at some point, managed to rock the flashy back ground because they all brought swag to it and an attitude that made it seem not so bad (i.e. good, catchy songs). I am so sick of flashy back grounds that burn my eyes.
Also, the last time I checked, this song was by SISTAR and not SISTAR19 so why didn't Soyu and Dasom get as much air time as Bora and HyoRin? I love those two but if you want the cameras focused on them 24/7 just drop the other two and add the numbers to the end because it's not fair to the other girls.
One more negative critique to add to the video before I share what I actually liked: WHAT WAS WITH THE RANDOM BURGER? I think it was a burger? It was either a burger, a pizzy pocket or some sloppy joe or something, either way, they split it in four and put it to their faces as if they were going to eat it but they just posed cutely instead... I am highly confused by the splitting and sharing of this piece of food- what is the significence on this burger? Is it a sign? Is it secretly telling us that Sistar pigs out on McDonald's off set? Is it telling our youth to not eat burgers but to pose cutely with them and then have a carrot? I don't understand why a random burger was placed in this video!
Moving on, I know I have said many negative things about this song and music video and dance etc. etc. but I did actually like some parts of it. I liked when they dressed up in those frilly little dress up dresses and started jumping over hurdles in their knee high socks. For some reason I was strangely liking the sneaker + dress concept. And no matter how much I dislike this particular Sistar song I can't deny that they all look absolutely beautiful with their long legs and perfect hair, so this, I suppose, wasn't a complete let down. For once I will be shallow and say they were pretty therefore something was good.
My last comment is not one directed towards this song or Sistar at all but more so to the company they're under. Brave Sound seems to be producing worse and worse music videos and songs as time goes by. If you don't know what I'm saying, listen to this song: Do You Know - Brave Girls and then this song: So Sexy - Brave Girls and then this one: Easily - Brave Girls.
I love Brave Girls and they had a FANTASTIC debut with 'Do You Know' but what happened with the next two songs? 'So Sexy' has a pretty decent, semi-catchy tune but the music video made me wonder what went wrong with everything and then 'Easily'... I don't even know where to begin with Easily; that song deserves a music review all of its own.
In the end, I suppose the real people at fault for this song is Brave Sound for creating it but still, I can't give this a good review.
FINAL RATING: 3/10
However, I know there are many Sistar fans out there who love this song, so I can't help but show case their talents. Once there's some uploaded to YouTube I will begin selecting my favourites and sharing them with you.
