When you think of SHINee you think: over-the-top costumes, crazy, unique hairstyles, strong performances and of course, those tight PVC pants that hug them in all the right places. But then they come out with "Jojo," which is more toned-down and a bit laid back. Like it or not?
First of all, out of all the songs in SHINee's Year of Us, I liked "Jojo" at first listen. It takes quite a few replays of "Ring Ding Dong" before I got past its ridiculous title, occasional "elastic, fantastic!" lyrics and totally confusing vid to actually listen to it. Whereas "Jojo" is more easy to the ears, unlike Ring Ding Dong which can give you a heart attack if you listen to it at full volume LOL. Jojo has that retro feel to it, it's almost like an 80's song but not really. And I was so excited when they performed it live this weekend with a new look---but what's this? They actually look very simple and this time I didn't have the urge to come all the way to Korea to give their stylist a beating.
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Anyways, let's take a look at their "toned-down" style:
Granted Jonghyun was wearing red pants but colored tighties has always been their trademark, and at least now we don't have to bet how many feathers will fall off his shirt. His jacket looks a little retro and one that he could've have worn during practice time but whatevs. He looks mighty fine.
Ahhh Key!!~~ Thank goodness he got rid of that vampire-esque style and purple-gray hair! Key's always the unlucky one when it comes to the stylist (remember the Juliet strawberry-blond perm?) but now he's looking pretty normal. Actually, SHINee has always been styled with high fashion clothes courtesy of Ha Saeng Baek, but it's good to see them look as real boys this time.
Although I liked Minho's look in Ring Ding Dong (if anyone knows where I can get that scarf tell me!!!) again, they are looking very simple and clean here, even with the hint of fur.
Leader Onew!!~ He looks good, but why do they always make him wear the dark/gray shades? Check GDAs where everyone else was wearing red-black combo but he was the odd-man out with head-to-toe gray.
Taeminnie added a splash of color which would look weird if anyone else wore it---but because he's young kid and cute as hell so he was able to pull it off.
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Performance wise, I think Jojo looked like it re-hashed some of their previous dances---we get to see a move they did on Replay and some from Juliette. However, what's amazing about SHINee is that the make every dance move so precise while at the same time maintaining their vocal skills intact. Idunno, some people may see Jojo as a little mediocre compared to their other releases and perfs but for me, less is definitely more. AND what's more important is that SHINee really looked like they were enjoying themselves at that time. What do you think?