Hey! 2NE1 just came out with a new song and it sucks! Let’s talk about it!
Okay, sucks may be too strong of a word, let’s go with “forgettable”. This track is a pop-techno dance song that sounds like every other dance song in existence right now. Right now, they’re preparing to break into the American market more so than they already have with their collaboration with Ke$ha (or there’s some song stealing there) and planned DLC for Dance Central 3, so it’s understandable that they want to blend in with the other hits that are toping the charts recently. It’s still boring.
The vocals in I Love You are the weakest I’ve ever heard the girls at and while the harmonies are pleasant, there’s nothing behind them. However, usual darlings, CL and Minzy, are outshined by Bom’s vocals, which is a nice surprise. I can’t help but feel this song would be just so much better if they just went for it vocally. They’re holding back, playing it safe, and it really hurts the song. I wouldn’t want to dance to this even though the beat sounds exactly the same as some techno song from the early 2000’s that I would get down to with no issue.
Also, something all artists need to stop doing is putting a staccato phrase like “bring it back” or “drop the beat” in the middle of their songs. It ruins the flow: you can go back to the previous tempo without announcing it. It’s okay. Really. Trust me. …Well, I guess at least it’s not dubstep.
Looking directly at the lyrics for this song, my mind instantly goes “this would have been much better as a ballad”. That or something more pop, less synth. There’s nothing really interesting going on here: basic “why haven’t you noticed me yet” kind of lyricism. I am slightly disappointed. Looking at the first four verses:
Only be good to me
Only always smile at me
I said oooh, don’t make me jealous
Oooh, don’t make me become obsessed
I’m still scared of love
So give make me trust you
I said oooh, don’t make me jealous
Oooh, don’t make me become obsessed
I really do think this song could have been a really cute, tsundere kind of song: tough girl coming to the, perhaps unwanted, realization that she’s in love kind of song. Unfortunately it’s not and not unlike the Big Bang song I reviewed last time, it comes off as a bit stalkerish.
Luckily, in this case the video itself benefits from having nothing to do with this vibe, but that’s not really saying much. Watching four minutes of 2NE1 groping their beds longingly/heartbroken-ly is so hideously unexciting that I can’t stand to watch the video. It’s a dance song, right? Why don’t you have them, I don’t know, going to a club and dancing? They all look amazing, so put it to use! Oh, and having the small scenes of CL and Minzy gyrating alone in their room doesn’t count as a ‘dance scene’. I really do love the sets, but they just seem wasted on the lack of action happening in them.
Final verdict: this song gets a 2 out of 5 invisible telephones (no images this week, sorry): it’s nice in theory, but boring in practice. I love this group, so I hope their next song blows me out of the water.
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 
I don’t know why, but this song is oddly catchy. I cannot, however, bring myself to dance to it either. I just listened to it about five times in a row trying, and I couldn’t do it.
It’s catchy in the way that hymn is catchy: it just kind of drones on until the notes get drilled into your head and the excitement is slowly clawed from your cold, dead hands. A soul sucking catchiness that abuses it’s pop roots. =^=
You’re right. I keep listening to it, and I can’t stop, but it’s not doing anything other than existing. I don’t know if my soul can take much more. I mean, fanfiction has already killed most of it to begin with.