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Twice (트와이스) – Twicecoaster: Lane One (EP review)

I distinctly remember when Twice’s first single “Like OOH-AHH(OOH-AHH하게)” was unleashed upon Earth.

I’d been a follower of Twice’s producer JYP -mastermind of many top K-Pop groups – because he produced the best K-Pop act of all time: The Wonder Girls.

I followed the Wonder Girls career for many years. One day I receive a notification that JYP has a new NINE MEMBER group that was debuting soon.

The days passed and finally I listened to this new group…and fell in love. The video had zombies everywhere. There was a horror movie style and they dressed very rockstar-like! The dancing and singing was completely on-point. I became an instant, overnight fan…annoying the living shit out of my woman, who still to this day hates “Like OOH-AHH(OOH-AHH하게)” with a vehement passion.

Fast forward from that debut EP “The Story Begins” (featuring “Like Ooh-Ahh” and another one of my favorites, “Do It Again”) through their following EP “Page Two” (which featured the wonderful single “Cheer Up”) which I overplayed to the point of disgusting all of my friends – except for Lord of Depression, yeah, THAT Lord of Depression, come to find out… he also loves K-Pop and why wouldn’t he? He knows his shit – to the EP we are reviewing today: Twicecoaster: Lane 1.

Track by track, let’s do this!

TT(티티)

Ah, the first single from this beautiful album. When the video hit, I was immediately taken aback. I was going to buy the album anyway, but here we had a song that distinctly ripped a line of music straight off of “Sonic The Hedgehog.” I have never heard anyone mention it, but as the song opens, you’ll hear it now and won’t be able to think of anything but that video game.

This song is produced so well, that it’s beyond anything I’d heard before. Each girl gets distinct lines as usual, but this song really shows off all their vocals. The video is about Halloween and Haunted Houses and I won’t ruin it for you. You just have to see it for yourself.

If Piggy Dolls had never recorded the song “Know Her” then “TT” would reign as the most badass but also cutest at the same time, song ever recorded in pop music history! I still can’t get enough of this song. It’s just one of those earworms that won’t leave you. I love the parts where they harmonize with each other. Nayeon takes top spot in this song, but the lines Jihyo does are extremely powerful. I picked her as my favorite K Pop singer with “Like OOH-AHH(OOH-AHH하게)” after seeing an in studio radio live performance. She packs a powerful punch.

1 to 10

Kind of a softer ballad-y dance number here that reminds me of Whitney Houston for some reason. It’s very 80s sounding. Sugary of course, but there’s a depth here, unlike most other songs in the same vein.

The chorus is extremely catchy but also insane! The harmonizing and mixing with the background vocal is total sonic perfection. The beginning pre-verse and ending lines are beautifully done.

When it starts with it’s alternating speaker “baby, baby, baby…Twice” they’ve already hooked you and you can forget about it. You are now a “Once” which is what Twice calls their fans.

Ponytail

You are hit straight in the nose with this song. Bombastic drums and hard rock guitar? What? This is a distinctly JYP thing, as evidenced with Wonder Girls before, but this one is almost like something straight out of an American action movie.

A lot of people point to Babymetal as some kind of rock n’ roll savior but they aren’t. They’re just a bunch of trash, low-tuned Pantera sounding garbage. This is a real heavy metal song. A bit neo-classical power metal sounding. It wasn’t expected, that’s for sure, and this is probably the most outstanding song on this EP.

The vocals are, as usual, the standouts…but here they are shining brighter than before, in addition to stunning you straight out of your sleepy haze dreary eyed wonderment after “TT” and “1 to 10.”

The drums on this tune are fantastic. It’s the anthem the world needed.

I love the breakdown where it’s just keys and vocals into the build-up back into the chorus. Brilliant music.

Jelly Jelly

The cuteness returns immediately after the barrage they just destroyed the world with. I’m pretty sure “Ponytail” is you know, about horses or something. But this song seems to be about…jelly. I looked up the lyrics and realized how dumb I am. It’s about jealousy, duh.

I LOVE this song. It’s got that Toni Basil meets Judas Priest meets Michael Jackson rhythm. They mix the vocals together that it’s almost too saccharine. It’s a candy bar, but it’s music, and it’s way better than any candy bar you ever had. It’s also very low calorie. Now I should point out something I forgot. Twice consists of nine young women: Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Jihyo, Tzuyu, Momo, Nayeon, Sana, Jeongyeon, and Mina. They sing this song so perfectly, you get sucked in to a dimension of pop goodness and can’t come back. The high note hit in the bridge just brings you to another level. And you’re about to be murdered by the next song…

Pit-a-Pat

When I first bought this album, I played it without looking at song titles. I only knew of “TT(티티)” and just let it flow through. I thought they were singing “Peter Pan, Peter Pan, Peter Pan.” This song crawled into my brain and NEVER LEFT. There are days where this shit just goes through me and all I can hear is this song. “Pit-a-Pat” actually is a Korean corruption of the English “Pitter-pat” (the fluttering beating of the human heart.)

At 2:32 you’re transported into a realm of the most beautiful vocal/music lines I’ve ever heard in comparison to Western and Euro-pop. I really love this song. It’s close to my heart, and I pitter-pat when it starts, each time, without fail.

Another thing that makes my heart skip a beat is the fact that I got a Golden Twice Super Card in the CD packaging. I didn’t know what it was, but it’s numbered 830 out of 1000. So I thought I got a really cool limited card, as cards are always in these K-Pop cds.

As it turns out, it was a card inviting me to a fan-meeting with Twice in Seoul, which of course I didn’t make. But I would have. If I had known what the fuck it was!

Next Page

A very upbeat song. This song has a driving beat and a minor melody throughout. It’s catchy and dancey, and even has a nice breakdown around the two-minute mark that leads back into a winding bass line. That’s the thing about JYP’s music: It’s always very good and not standard. So much goes on in the music.

This one has a real video game feel but it is not like “TT(티티)” and is more of an NES sound than a 16-bit sound from Sega. It’s very subtle but it is definitely there in the background. Distinct staccato vocal line to start this song out that will make you want to bop around like an idiot.

The pre-chorus is something of legend. It’s like you are getting attacked by some kind of brainwashing army.

One in a Million

A cover of Guns N Roses acoustic, racist, misogynist hit from their “Lies” EP!

Just kidding. “One in a Million” is what Twice always says in their fan greetings and I believe this is a little bit of a letter to the fans.

This is the only real ballad on this EP. Acoustic guitar and a clap track – you already know I love the clap tracks on choruses. More people should use them.

This song breaks down and builds up and tears you down and then shoots you out of a rocket. Another really good high note shoots out at your face in the bridge. This song got me hyped for the next album. More on that album later…because boy it’s good.

This was, technically, followed up by “Twicecoaster: Lane Two” which featured all the songs I reviewed plus one bonus single “Knock Knock” – a really good song worth looking up on youtube right now – and another bonus called “Ice Cream,” but I wasn’t going to pay to have the album again with just a few bonus songs! Why would anyone do thatttt——-

and yeah you guessed it, I ended up doing it… later… with a different album!

Twice made me a Once.

http://twice.jype.com/

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