Kpop Opinion Piece : Chocolat - "Syndrome"

Photo originally found on : http://kpoprockshd.blogspot.com

Group pictured : Chocolat

Their first, current and only song out so far : "Syndrome" (embedded video link after the jump)

I have to be honest. I LOVE this song. Wait, let me scratch that. I AM FRIGGING ADDICTED TO THAT SONG.

It's got everything I want. It's fresh, it makes me want to move (yes, really) , nice vocals, and overall the group seems rather good. But South Korea had a very, very weird way of promoting them. If you have stumbled upon Allkpop (www.allkpop.com) , you probably have read about them. So, are they the next Kara or SNSD ? Are they epically awesome ?

Naah. See the three girls from the right ? Don't they look a little... different ? Slightly "less" Asian ? BINGO. And voila, they were being marketed as a "bi-racial" group (those girls are half-American) . I thought this was slightly odd until I remembered that hey, we're speaking about South Korea here, soooo... not a surprise, I guess, but also disappointing.

I've seen the live performances. I've seen a video where they interview with a reporter that speaks so fast you wonder how he's not guzzling down liters of water, and with proof that the girls can sing (Julianne, the last girl on that screencap above, being the exception. The lives are constructed so that it looks like she never sings her "high note" [that high note concept seems to be very, very important in Korea] ... but in the original music video it does not even sound like she should be singing that note in the first place. This would explain why she never ever ever sang it in any performance, despite being filmed mouthing the note. Many girl group members do that even if it's not their part, so no biggie in the end.

Argh, sorry, rambling here. This group has potential. The girls are very young (ages start at 14 O_O) , and I am looking forward to seeing what they have to give in the future. I mean, come on, for girls that age, they are pretty good compared to more "senior" girl groups (and I like a LOT of groups :P ) .

Video clip :