Thread by @dizzinest, Review of NCT127's 'Punch', written by someone who barely knows music theory. [...]

Review of NCT127's 'Punch', written by someone who barely knows music theory. Wanted to do this like three hours ago but my internet went out

#NCT127_Punch

the song has a pretty strong opening because of the synth melody at the beginning. I don't know the kind of the sound wave it would classify as (i was thinking a square wave but i don't think that's quite right), but whatever it is, it's extremely striking. (1/17)

A hook this strong sets a good foundation for what seems to play as a baseline in sections of the song. (2/17)

The first portion of the 1st verse scared me a bit, cause I thought it was going to be the hook for the chorus, but, obviously, it wasnt the chorus, so I'm quite pleased about that. It doesn't even sound bad, it's just one of the weaker sections of the song (3/17)

Then, we have rap sections from taeyong, jaehyun and mark. Taeyong impressed me the most because of the timbres of his voice. I generally like the whisper-y rap lines the song has, along with the rappers playing with rhythms and such
(4/17)

The pre-chorus brings us more of the vocal lines from jungwoo, taeil, and even johnny (thank you SMENT for that btw).

I like this pre-chorus because, usually in k-pop songs, the pre-chorus is meant for the vocalists to show off their singing talents-
(5/17)

-and while Punch very obviously does this, the vocal melodies are noticeably more spaced out (if that makes any sense?) The instrumentals in the 1st pre-chorus get to shine alongside the vocal melody, which isn't something you hear too often in pop music.
(6/17)

If i were to make a comparison to another pre-chorus in a k-pop song, it would be MCND's "Ice Age"
(7/17)

The chorus is quite nice as well. It combines the strengths of the verses (powerful rap lines) with that of the pre-chorus (sultry, smooth vocals and the piano chords). Some nice harmonies are included as well, (example: EYYY WE BALLIN')

(8/17)

So we hit the 2nd verse and YOOOOOO THOSE VOCALS.

(9/17)

it almost sounds like the vocalists (doyoung, jungwoo and i hear haechan for like a split second) are hitting the first notes on a off-beat or weak beat. Doesn't it sound like the phases arrive a bit earlier than they're supposed to? But it's deliberate and it's just sexy (10/17)

From here, past sections of the song seem to be shorter, in terms of the amount of bars. The spaces in the 2nd pre-chorus in particular noticeably shrinks in size and the vocal melodies are a lot closer to each other

(11/17)

bridge arrives and obviously it sounds good because the vocalists know what they're doing and doing their parts well. And that dance break..... it hypes me up so much and i hear what seems to be some kind of brass instrument? It's just very cool

(12/17)

The last chorus hits and you realise this whole works
surprisingly well.

There's so much more that I wanted to talk about but not only is this thread getting long, but there's just a lot to unpack in the song, (in terms of instrumentals)
(13/17)

some notes about the mv and styling:

the styling is really good, tho my least fav outfits are the plain black ones. obv there's more to the outfits in terms of accessories, it's just the colour that throws me off. like the exact opposite of the outfits from Touch lol
(14/17)

Jaehyun tho... i think he might have officially bias wrecked me. He was my first bias in NCT, am i doing a 360 right now?

(15/17)

nice shots from the mv:

(16/17)

Aaaand that's the end of the review! If anyone ends up finding this, thank you so much for sticking until the end! i hope i didn't bore you out haha

(.....and stream punch)

(17/17) - END OF REVIEW -

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