Jackpot: The K-pop Songs From ELRIS
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Introduction: Jackpot: The K-pop Songs From ELRIS
Formed in 2017, by Hunus Entertainment, this five piece girl band came out with their first mini-EP at the same time. The groups name is an acronym for “Excellent, Lovely, Rainbow, Innocent, Sister”. Since then they’ve increased their ranks with two more girls. Each member of the group represents an element of nature. First off we have the official “face” of the band, Sohee (소희), whose also the main vocalist and dancer and represents “Sky”. Then Hyeseong (혜성), whose a lead vocalist and represents “Wind”. These are followed by Yukyung (유경), Chaejeong (채정), EJ, Karin (가린) and Bella (벨라), are their respective signs are “Water”, “Moon”, “Star”, “Forest” and “Heart”. All good wholesome stuff for you weeaboos out there.
A Two Year Break
After a couple of well received singles and two albums, the group disappeared from view for almost 2 years. Then in 2020, they announced a new line-up with two new members. K-pop being K-pop, with it’s fast turn-around of stars and groups, this come-back is a pretty bold move. Twenty months is a lifetime in the K-pop time continuum. But back they are, and with a new 4 song EP to promote. It’s called “Jackpot”. Let’s have a listen, and we’ll give you some of our thoughts on it.
Effect On Fans
Having been away from the scene for almost two years, has given many fans enough time to move onto other newer groups. Fans invest a lot of time, energy and money into their favorite K-Pop idols and any down time is going to effect their loyalty. Of course, there will always some more hard-core fans, who will live and die for the band, but this new comeback feels more like a totally new group debuting their new EP. The problem with Jackpot: The K-pop Songs From ELRIS, really comes with the sound, and where about’s we can place them in the K-pop industry with so many sound-alike artists competing for space.
Tread Setters?
In K-pop, the addition of new members into an existing set-up is normally a sign that the management have been conducting market research and talking to teen focus groups. We can’t help but feel that they must of been struggling as to exactly where the band should be positioned. Not only have they added a couple of new members, but also have completely changed their singing style. For many fans, this looks more like an identity crisis in the making. It looks like they’re chasing trends as opposed to creating them just like online jackpot sites.
New Mini-Album Jackpot
As for the mini album, Jackpot, we’re at a loss of anything really good to say about it. It sound like every other K-pop girl band and seems to have been constructed with simple cut and paste techniques. The cadence is frenetic and lacking in the basics like melody and good lyrics. Once upon a time, K-pop was about quality. Looking back and comparing AOA with Sistat or Girl’s Generation with 2NE1, and you’ll be in a totally different world from Jackpot. These older bands had personality, character and even an idiosyncratic approach to their vocals. Which, by the way, certainly were head and shoulders above the banality of most of today’s output. Yes, we’re looking at you, ELRIS.
The Tracks
The first track is “Intro”. Unfortunately, the rapping and shouty attitude sets the loud minor-key tone for all the other following songs. And that’s not a good thing. There’s a lot of shouting the group’s name, “ELRIS” set to some very lame and painful rapping. There is some melody which kicks in with the chorus, but that’s the song’s only saving grace. Next up is the Title track “Jackpot”. Again this is trying hard, but failing miserably. The rapping is awful and for some Western ears, it’s going to sound like a crucified version of the old Spice Girls. But not in a good way.
It Get’s Better
The third song from Jackpot: The K-pop Songs From ELRIS, is called “This is Me” and is much more rock sounding. That is “K-Pop” rock, as opposed to real rock. This sounds as if your kid wrecked the stereo by blowing the bass. As a result the only sounds are high twitter notes and garbled everything else. There are no redeeming features to this mess. Let’s move on to “Like I Do”. Again, the microphone fell into mud, yep, that’s how it sounds. And though there are brief moments when it does try to do the right thing, like find a melody, you’ll end up disappointed once again. The surprise is the final track, “No Big Deal”. We gotta say that this is by far and away the best thing on the EP. You feel as though this was produced without an ear leaning towards current fashions or trends. The sound is deeper, more original, less cute, and there’s a refreshing lack of those irritating chants. Of course, it’s slickly produced but doesn’t treat the listener like an idiot. This really should of been the opening song.
Jackpot: The K-pop Songs From ELRIS
Jackpot tries to be everything to everybody. It’s like just throwing all the musical notes at us and seeing what will stick. There are any number of chants and a lot of fragmented trying-too-hard rapping. It’s so over-produced that each of the four songs succumbs to booms, scratching and production sounds that fail to add anything of value to them. Though each song has a fairly promising start, they all fall under the unwieldy hammer of someone unable to stop themselves from pressing every button on the recording studio’s sound deck. Thinking back to their debut singles in 2017, they have been badly let down.
Conclusion: Jackpot: The K-pop Songs From ELRIS
Take a time out and go listen to Rocket Punch or Weki Meki. Here, they too are caught up in the zeitgeist moment of cheerleader/cute/bratty/quirky. But they do have a saving grace. Yep, their music is catchy and the songs are much more relatable. There are so many K-pop girl groups knocking out the same material, doing the same dance moves, making the same videos, that they have all started to become interchangeable. No one is taking any risks anymore. It’s all becoming bland and vanilla. ELRIS isn’t to blame for any of this. It’s just that K-pop is over saturated with the same type of group. All vying for a slice of an increasingly overcrowded marketplace. We wish them well. But hope that Jackpot is their last effort at fitting in and are look forwards to something that finally sets them apart.
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