Baby, You're Hurting My Heart [2AM's "I Was Wrong"]

I've stated a few times now since coming back full force (....) on the blogging tip that a lot of my music listening time has been spent listening to Korean Pop Music, as so much of it is so happy, poppy and genuinely puts a smile on my face. I'd like to take some time to focus on a new(ish) group that I've yet to speak about here on Melismatic, who hold a lot of promise in my eyes -- and a song that makes me go bananas at the thought of it's worldwide release (in English, obviously). 

2AM (to the left - from left to right -- Jinwoon,  Jo Kwon, Changmin and SeulOng) is a four-member boy band (don't give me that look!) under the JYP music management coalition (which also brought us the Wonder Girls), a subset of eleven-member boy band One Day. The other seven comprise brother boy-band 2PM -- until the group's leader Jay Park left the group/was forced out in late 2009, returning to America and quickly gaining serious hype and acclaim (depending on what type of 2PM-associated fangirl you talk to, you may be told that the USA has Jay to thank for this week's change-up in the Hot 100 #1 with the introduction of  B.o.B. and Bruno Mars "Nothin' On You"). The remaining six members have just released their first album post-Jaypocalypse this past week. While I was a fan of some of their previous hits (particularly "10 out of 10" and especially "Heartbeat", which definitely deserves four minutes of your ever-loving pop time), their new material isn't inspiring much from me. Which brings me back to the original thought behind this post -- the boys of 2AM.

For the most part, 2AM is categorized as a ballad-based group in Korea, while 2PM was more penchant toward uptempos showcasing their dancing skills (all of them are credited breakdancers/b-boys/etc. etc.). Given my penchant for cute boys dancing, it should come as little surprise to you that I'd be more interested in 2PM -- until I heard the glory that is "잘못했어" (Romanized: Jalmot Haesseo; "I Was Wrong"). May I take this time to state to you, fam -- this is one you have to check out -- regardless of your preference for KPop. For fans of proper pop midtempos, this is a must-not-miss.

Rather than a proper ballad, "I Was Wrong" rather chooses to straddle the line between beautiful soaring blub-fest and entrancing back beat midtempo, and the result is very lush indeed. While the vocals are pointedly smooth and emotional, it's all sung over a bouncing, pulsating backbeat that continues to grow as the song carries on, climaxing (yes, I just said that) in all out, positively Euro-esque pop dancefloor swirls by the time the song is done. From the minute I heard it, I yearned for an all-English version, salivating at how positively international this track is. The song made it's formal debut in mid-March in Korea, and is still riding high on the charts, complete with its movie-like music video, which features each of the four members pining after the same girl, leading to an all out brawl-fest set to sweeping counterpoint of synthy fireworks. The cute factor gets up-ped even more when you include there are "flashbacks" to when the four boys (and the leading lady)  are children, complete with the same hairstyles they have now.Yes, really. I told you it was epic.

(Side Note: I should be allowed one fangirl moment, seeing as this is a boy band video. My favorite is SeulOng, who first begins singing solo in the second half of the first verse around the 1:54 -- but Changmin -- tee hee, another Changmin, as he's my favorite in TVXQ -- sings my favorite bit of the whole song around the 2:13 mark. Although, if I'm speaking honestly -- we're all friends here -- I really wouldn't mind being the leading lady if this was real life. A girl can dream right? ::sighs:: That's it -- I'm moving to Korea.)

Given the US's pointed lack of boy bands (glare), "I Was Wrong" official gains my stamp of approval as the best boy band song I've heard so far in 2010. No small feat, as while the US may not want to admit to its love for pretty boys in stylish yet sexy matching outfits dancing in synchronized choreography to pleas for true love and/or thinly-veiled innuendo, Korea has no problem with it (are you seeing why I'm becoming so obsessed?). Add to the fact that I'm genuinely impressed by 2AM's vocal capabilities, and you have the makings of a monster -- an official second to my love (well documented on Twitter) for Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK/TVXQ/Tohoshinki/You Choose), currently held in creative limbo due to a rather tragic lawsuit that I'd rather not dwell upon.

2AM (along with 2PM) are both making their official US debuts opening for JYP and the Wonder Girls respectively this summer -- fingers crossed for an English version of "I Was Wrong" to crop up sometime soon.