[Review] “Shake Ur Body” by Swincle

Swincle is one of 2011’s newest girl groups to hit K-pop, and they issued their debut EP some time ago, titled “Shake Ur Body“, and a lead single of the same name.
Comprised of rapper Mika (21), Jihee (19), main vocal Songhee (22), leader Jisoo (20), and vocal Haeran (21), Swincle has made it clear that they’ve got an affinity for KARA’s musical style and may or may not have dabbled in re-creating some of the girl’s sound in their own EP.
So is that the case in “Shake Ur Body’?
Let’s give it a listen and find out.
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Track List:
01 Shake Ur Body
02 서있어 (Standing)
03 괜찮아 (I’m Fine)
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“Shake Ur Body” opens with the title track, where Swincle lay down the most energy on the entire EP. As expected from its name, “Shake Ur Body” is an up-tempo, K-pop-ized number that is high on life and heavy on processing. If KARA is what they’re aiming for, this is definitely present-day KARA with a sprinkle of SISTAR for good measure.
Most of the song is clogged with loads of “da-da-dahh” and “bom, bom, bom” acting almost as a filler for as much dead air as possible, all while attempting to catch a melodic break, which in this case is the entire duration of the song.
The beat of “Shake Ur Body” isn’t as fresh as Swincle may have believed it to be when they vouched for it as a debut single, and with auto-tune up to here, the song comes off as a somewhat lifeless, predicable dance tune that we’ve heard one-too-many times.
But as the EP continues into “Standing“, something interesting happens. Rather than the EP digging its own grave after the sub-par performance of the lead single, this follow-up song allows us to view Swincle from a very different angle, as well as save itself from oblivion in the process.
The pre-chorus/chorus of “Standing” feels like it was taken directly from 2007 K-pop. It has that very timeless chord progression that was so popular back then, and for what it is, Swincle pulled it off pretty well. Unlike the lead single, we get a good sense of the group’s vocals in this song, which aren’t half bad. The only thing pinning this song down is the awful production choices.
First, there’s an unnecessary male ‘voice’ hovering over the better moments of “Standing” that really throws things off-balance. Even more unnecessary is the insertion of one of the screechiest and mind-numbing rap sections in the history of bad K-pop rap sections. The whole thing is just awkward and it’s actually utilized as a verse, which is down right unforgivable of the person behind that decision. It’s a shame, because most of this song shows a lot of promise and the potential to be grand, given Swincle find better producers (Standing).
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The EP ends with “I’m Fine“, the one ballad and saving grace of “Shake Ur Body”. If any one song was to take me back to KARA’s musical style, it would be this one. But not just KARA; KARA circa 2007 “The First Blooming“, when they were still four members and possessed the best artillery they have ever had – Sunghee.
Comparing anything present-day to “The First Blooming” is stretching it (and blasphemous), because that was quite possibly one of the best things to ever happen to K-pop, but nothing else under KARA’s wings matches what Swincle seem to gravitate toward. Whether they are trying for a KARA concept or not doesn’t really matter, since this sounds like it’s pulled out from that time period anyway.
“I’m Fine” has a very familiar warmth to it. This is a classic example of a song that is driven by a nice pairing of vocals with melody, and done decently well. The lead singer doesn’t have a very forceful voice per se, but because this song is so calm and pretty, the moments when she does let loose, it falls right into place with the feeling of the song. “I’m Fine” brings character and that female Korean pop charm to this EP, whereas the lead single doesn’t.
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There are some nice voices in Swincle, which is all the more reason to stay far away from over processing them. Unfortunately, it happens anyway, and not in a tasteful manner either.
They haven’t quite come to grips with the right kind of up-tempo song for them, but you can tell that they really want to have that one hit to win over the K-pop fans. Despite that, things on this EP remain too mundane and so-so to stand out.
There are times, however, when Swincle appear to shine through and deliver those glimmers of hope that there may in fact be something good among all the derision of K-pop, and shouldn’t be overlooked. If they refine their style, become more of a unique girl group and less of a KARA copy (not to mention find producers who won’t ruin potentially good songs for them), then Swincle may be one group to look out for.