It came out on June 3rd, 2013, and as of June 30th, 2013 it had 1,594,522 views.
Overall impression:
Em: So this MV, at first glance, seems like a bunch of guys
in suits. Sexy, sure, but is it interesting enough to do a review on? WELL.
Just wait until 2:30, when this random girl drops her drink and everything is
an explosion of happiness and rainbows (okay what was actually in her drink
guys? Guys?) In all seriousness though, MBLAQ’s Smoky Girl was a
well-put-together MV with a variety of interesting styles. They started with
sleek black suits, then smooth white suits, then they got neon rainbows on
their white suits (which glowed fantastically under a blacklight) and then
finally more colorful outfits at the end. Plenty of dapper details to keep it
interesting like snazzy hats and sunglasses.
Dapper as all @#%& in black suits
Acid is bad, folks.
White suits + blacklight + neon paint = this awesomeness
Ruby: I really think that this mv was all in the detailing.
I mean, normally we see mv’s of suits and are like, well don't you guys look
dapper and snazzy… and I’m bored. So for us I think this mv was really
refreshing. Yes, it was suits, but it fit the cool and suave concept for the
dance and song. And they were sooo well done. And I’ve seen the neon paint
thing a few times recently, but this worked really well under the blacklights
and I think added that unique spark to the mv. Unique is the wrong word here,
but standout definitely still applies.
Corset detailing...file under sexy
Sneaky bits of color that made outfits much more than just boring suits
Glowing suits. Yes.
Other promotional Materials:
Em: MBLAQ did an oddly beige teaser photo where they wore
tan and off white. The only color was their hair, which was rather distinctive
in the MV itself too. It’s interesting how these vague, noncommittal colors
play off of the stark black and white contrast and bold colors throughout the
actual video. The video teaser was just clips from the MV.
Looking at the MV, I'm kind of confused
Ruby: Honestly, as much as the suits were amazing in the mv,
something got miscommunicated to the stages. Don't get me wrong, some of their
suit sets were really clean and quite dapper…. Others edged on just a bad idea.
I mean, I understand, you had the altered suits in the mv, but those already
walk a thin line of being stripperish or looking like a mistake. They seem to
have driven an army tank over the line and declared war against modesty with
the comeback stages. I understand where they were coming from, but come on
guys…..
Sure this is fine, nice and clean, they look like a group
Wait is that a slit in your shirt?
They appear to have run out of fabric
Continuity:
Em: Smoky Girl was unique in that usually kpop bands have a
few different outfit sets to switch between throughout the video, but in this
one there were two sets for the first half and then two sets for the second
half after the drink spilled, which marked the transition from black and white
to Wonderland. Despite this jump in the middle, the level of dapper stayed
pretty consistent throughout the MV. The white suits were essentially carried
over, but transformed, and the other outfits tied in with each other nicely.
The band ALWAYS looks like a cohesive band.
Sunglasses in black
Sunglasses in white
Ruby: I agree, I think the suits themselves really acted to
keep the band consistent. I guess I would have liked to not have the street
clothes set. It wasn’t bad but it lost a lot of its appeal when placed next to
these extremely clean, sexy and classy suits. Also, for me, colored hair is
great. I adore brightly died hair but it has to match the concept. That pink is
just to much for this mv, its like, all I can look at…. Can’t…. look… away….
Street clothes--acceptable, but just not the same
What is the first thing you see in this picture?
Band’s Overall Image:
Em: MBLAQ has definitely done the sexy men in black and
white thing in the past, and they do it well. They’ve also done colorful
patterns before…it always makes a statement visually, so they’re using what’s
worked for them in the past. It’s not that they can’t be cute, they just
usually focus on sexy concepts.
Sexy, b&w concept from their album Y
Some colorful patterns like in the street clothes
CUTE WORKS TOO OKAY
Ruby: MBLAQ does sexy well. I mean they do the whole like
black, sexy manly man man concept pretty much all the time. Although they’ve
got cuddly and silly personalities they definitely pull it off well. Usually I
think they’re a little wilder including elements of punk style or maybe color
accents, but this comeback I think the new buzzword was classy. Not that they
were not-classy before, but that this reaches new levels of classy for not only
kpop but male pop star fashion in general. They just look good, okay?
Shot from the MV This Is War
Classy.
Trends in K-POP:
Em: Suits have always been a thing, and hopefully always
will be a thing. They’re classic. In fact, even Lee Hyori wears them when she’s
crossdressing, and looks just as dapper. Not actually kidding. Kpop fashion
also has a liiiiitle bit of kink thrown into it. MBLAQ did it with a corset
shirt thing. Ukiss did it with rope in a photoshoot. It gets snuck in.
Lee Hyori in Going Crazy
U kiss and their rope thing. Yeah the whole band did this too.
Ruby: Please let suits never go out of fashion. Like well
fitted, black, non patterned suits. ON AN UNRELATED NOTE the paint thing has
been in kpop-yester-comebacks. You can go back to 2ne1’s Ugly in 2011 or look
at 4Minute’s What’s Your Name from this year. MBLAQ uses the trend well here
and I think it can be really fun if done right. Also, when setting MVs in night
clubs I think they tend to struggle with the background clothing, but I liked the
really stark, fairly conservative approach with the white. I think it worked
and really reduced the visual noise in those scenes. This SHOULD be a trend…..
;)
2NE1's Ugly MV with neon paint
What's Your Name by 4Minute
Simple white nightclub outfit fits the MV
Conclusion:
Em: This was a good showing from MBLAQ. The suits were
sleek, well fitting, and were interesting without being too ‘creative’ to the
point of trying too hard. They managed the tough balance in men’s clothing
between color and manliness by keeping the details subtle and countering the
color with an overall classic appearance. Partly dapper and partly good for
clubbing too.
This is not MBLAQ. This is SHINee, after being attacked by their stylists.
Don't do suits like this. Just don't.
Better.
Ruby: MBLAQ nailed it. This song and
dance and clothes match really well. This isn’t a concept to use all the time.
It wasn’t super exciting in some ways, I’ll admit it. But the song was really
asking for that classy with a twist attitude. Plus we got the fun parts later
with the paint and the black lights and our hints of sexy with the eyeliner,
hats and shades. I could have done with different hairdos in some cases, but
there was just so much yes in this video, I can’t really complain.
Guyliner and is that lipstick too? but he still looks good, maybe it's the hair
Hellooooooooo
Daily Dose of Daebak:
Sometimes stylists go crazy with scissors. Sometimes we let
them.
Mir, glasses, hair back, eyeliner…. We don't have a like,
SEXXYYYYYY category. But this can go in that category….. on top…. Of the list….
Drools
So what did you think? Were they as classy as we thought or did they miss the dapper boat? Let us know in a comment!
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