summer – One Rabbit Riot

Something that I noticed this summer, is that Korean girl group (G)-IDLE’s July album release ‘I Sway’ felt disjointed and didn’t land. As I watched the beach dancing sequence in the music video, I thought I was the only one, but as I’ve browsed K-Pop subreddits, I am far from the only one feeling weird about this song and era.

I saw discussions about whether (G)-IDLE’s concept was going downhill or what was going on with this album. I have been confused by what a ‘klaxon’ is. Is it a made-up word? Is it a Korean word? Why did the trailer look like the song was going to be set in a city with old cars and instead we get cringe choreography on the beach while the members dance in swimsuits that feel so unoriginal and not true to (G)-IDLE’s normal aesthetic.

It’s vaguely Californian but honestly, the beach could be anywhere? The stage performance and dance challenge shorts feature the members in lifeguard-themed outfits that look like the lifeguard hoodies you can purchase at Wings at the Outer Banks. The dance challenges feel off, not even Changbin really got into it. Which I was looking forward to, as the weird sexual choreography where they pop their chest at the “honk honk” lyric sounded funny for a boy group member to do.

I did learn, from The Grand Tour ironically, that “Klaxon” is an old-fashioned turn for a car horn. Yeah, weird. A bit too niche. Maybe if the music video was more car-focused or the lyrics had built on that theme more the theme would have meshed well with the name and the choreography? 2Baddies and Faster from NCT 127 are two examples of car-focused songs and a car-focused music video that works well, a girl group building on this theme would have been cool!

I personally find this comeback disappointing because so far in 2024, (G)-IDLE has been one of my favorite bands. Super Lady and Wife were amazing concepts that challenged the norm without being trite. (G)-IDLE for years now has been so fantastically original and pushing back against the stereotypes women navigate. Hoping this is a fluke and not a full-on concept change.

Last Summer I had similar concerns about Aespa after their ‘Better Things” comeback which seemed to bop between a mermaid water concept and a sitcom “Friends” style. It was a different song for the band too, with a slower concept, less beat-heavy. In that way it reminds me of Stray Kids ‘Lose My Breath’ music video and concept from this year. Where Aespa was less successful than Stray Kids was that they couldn’t quite blend the conflicting aesthetics and song style together into something that landed. This song, Better Things, has grown on me in the months since they released it, but it isn’t one I listen to regularly.

I hope ‘Klaxon’ does the same. What surprises me the most with these concepts is that the coconut girl, mermaid-core, beach vibes aesthetic is not landing. You would think releasing this in the summer would be a hit, but these concepts just didn’t come to fruition in my opinion and other K-pop fans.

To be fair, I still don’t like the ‘Lose My Breath’ aesthetics, it was interesting but not a favorite compared to other Stray Kids concepts and maybe that is what ‘Better Things’ and ‘Klaxon’ are suffering from. Maybe the other stuff is so good, just peak concepts, that these good but not great concepts seem like flops?

As I was thinking about this post this scene from Miss Congeniality popped into my head because I feel like what I am about to write sounds a bit like Rhode Island and that’s okay because it gives me a good laugh.

There is this amazing breeze today, fresh, clean, not humid air that I haven’t felt in over a month, and yet on these days I feel like I’m in a portal of memory. One of my favorite things about living in Pennsylvania and a climate with four seasons is that the weather changes. Quite often actually. We get cold fronts that scream across Ohio and things change in a few hours and I love it. Especially in the height of summer, when I’m burnt out on the bright sun, humidity, and heat waves. We get one of those cold fronts, like we did yesterday and the humidity clears, the sky changes and the leaves turn over and instead of storming it looks like fall.

It feels like fall in the middle of July! Instead of dangerous storms, we get gentle rain. The clouds in their kaleidoscope gray and purple changes the light to that spooky vibe of a cozy Halloween movie. It refreshes me.

It brings me back to some of my favorite summer memories. Such as the feeling of being 17 at my summer job at Geneva College on their Paint Crew, after a stretch of painting in muggy, non-air-conditioned dorms, when finally a storm breaks through and the cold front brings this melodic rain and I watch it from inside Memorial Hall. The lighting is so spooky, it’s hard to see what I’m cutting in but I feel alive in the cool breeze. I can’t wait to walk home in the rain!

The breeze coming through the windows of my home today reminded me of the sweetness of the summer air that I used to smell at my friend Cailee’s house as a kid. They always had the windows open in the summer. As I walked into my bedroom to grab a pair of socks, I could swear I was on the second-floor landing about the help Cailee clean her room again before she got grounded. Four Harry Potter books were strewn across the floor, the first movie had just come out. Like magic, I’m 8 years old again.

What’s your ideal calendar date? Is there a certain moment from summer or a change in the weather that transports back to childhood?