Nine Muses/9MUSES is a nine member girl group under Star Empire Entertainment. You might recognize this label as being the home of girl group Jewlery or boy group ZE:A. 9MUSES debuted back in 2010, which makes them a relatively new group. I don’t consider them rookies at this point, but your opinion might be different. The girls performed “Gun” on October 11th for M! Countdown and the official MV came out on October 13th, which charted at #16 on the Gaon Charts. This was an all-time high for this group, which could be a sign of their rising popularity. Position 16 might not sound impressive, but they are competing against groups with enormous fan-bases and hype. “GUN” is supposed to have retro influences with a Western feeling to the track. I’d say it succeed in doing that.
The retro aspect is made clear by certain members having scenes with retro outfits and cliche scenes in the desert, such as the one above, make the Western feel very obvious.
[Photo Credit: weheartit.com] Link: http://tinyurl.com/kefon3h
Now for the song evaluation itself. The MV starts in a way that feels like the beginning for a “Dukes of Hazzard” movie. Maybe this could be the Korean version, but it has a guy (who vanishes later) riding up to the gas station with the girls at it. This gas station appears to be in the middle of nowhere and near a rig or something like that. Anyway, member Lee Sem starts singing first and with no prompting to do so. This always made me chuckle because the guy walks up to the gas station and one girl starts singing for no apparent reason. There is no plot like in a drama or a “Drama Version” of an MV, but it’s still somewhat amusing to me. Anyway, the song progresses with each member getting time on camera and each of their three outfits being shown in different frames. The song moves along with each member singing as the guy slowly walks through the gas station and looking at each girl. Around 2:24, the scene shifts to the girls in a field and having fun. This only lasts a short while and the MV moves back to the desert setting, which becomes a night time setting shortly after switching back. Around 2:58, the guy vanishes (as mentioned above) and the girls end the MV with a mini-party at the gas station. I always found it funny how the guy just vanishes, but his motorbike is still there and the girls are playing with it or posing on it. I know the guy has served his purpose in the MV at that point, but it’s funny how the MV never shows how he leaves. It makes one chuckle when one tries to put logic into it. >_<
The set definitely helps set the Retro-Western theme and the outfits above can be argues as their main outfits for the MV. Each member gets to show their outfits and come off as confident, yet open to the guy in the MV.
The theme for the MV appears to be about a guys who are too shy to approach girls. Lyrics like “Look, I’m pretending not to have seen you,/ look I’m pretending to be innocent/ Look, I’m pretending to be pretty/ I’m pretending to smile because of you, end this well” (which are part of the chorus) show that the theme is trying to tell guys to see when a girl is showing some reciprocation to their feelings. In other words, look for the signs when a girl is trying to tell you she is interested in you too. It goes along the lines of girls not outright telling guys they like them, but gives hints or signs that they do. Think the opposite of Girls Day’s “Female President” or along the lines of Dal Shabet’s“Be Ambitious”. At 2:56. you see the guy touch hands with one of the members and they have that cliche moment when both pull back momentarily, but the lyrics show that she is just acting innocent. The guy does not take this chance to make his move on her and she just walks away. He missed his chance and this is echoed in the two girls who look at him with expressions that say”Oh well”. The dance is simple and nothing that shows too much movement. The main components are the hands to the side when swaying in a downward motion, stretching outwards with one hand and having the other run along it, then posing in various positions. This does not mean the MV or live performance is any less valuable, but it would have been nice to see a little more in terms of a dance. Overall, I really like the song. The chorus is catchy, the outfits are wonderful and the setting is unique to me. I love that is reminded me of “Dukes of Hazzard” and that each member gets to show off their outfits with some screen time. The MV also does a great job of getting in some wide shots of the group. I believe this groups has a lot of potential and their name is also a creative one. In case people didn’t know, it is taken from the nine muses in Greek mythology. They are generally considered goddesses of the arts, so the name is a great one. I guess they are up there in the “not-so-modest” name category with DBSK, but they are a group I recommend keeping an eye on.
Here’s the official MV for “GUN”!
Here’s the live performance on M! Countdown.
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