Here are my credentials: I’m a fan of NCT Dream, who was actually one of the first groups I reviewed on this blog, and I’m a fan of Mark’s solos (Child especially) and just Haechan in general. However, if you’ve read one of my reviews before, you’ll know that I have…a negative opinion of 127 from what I’ve heard. They set the template for some of my least favorite trends in the industry, noise music especially. So, fair warning, I don’t know how I’ll feel about them at the end, but I hope that they can change my mind!

(Part One)

Album #2: Neo Zone; The Final Round

Kick It is a return to the NCT 127 whose choruses are painful on my ears with its “let me introduce you to some new things” hook. Annoyingly, I don’t mind the rest of the song, and even enjoy most of the verses and pre-choruses and especially that great bridge…but the chorus just kills all of that good. I also think the styling and setting is really interesting and unique for k-pop, where a lot of videos can look similar. I just can’t like it.

Punch, like Kick It, is another “I’m-cooler-than-you” hip-hop heavy song, but it’s decent. Also like Kick It, I enjoy most of the song, besides that weird heavy breathing and the somewhat off-putting intro. Thankfully this one doesn’t have an anti-drop, and its bridge and electronic break is also quite good. I just wish that the chorus was a little bit more rousing, rather than just repeating “eh…we ballin’”, which does nothing for me.

From the album Neo Zone: The Final Round, I enjoyed the lightly chanty verses of Boom (though not the nothing chorus), the floaty softness of Day Dream, and the synths of Love Me Now. I had two hidden gems: Love Song, with its smooth R & B and excellently layered harmonizing and Not Alone, with its gently encouraging lyrics.

Album #3: Favorite

Sticker is a song that is infamous in the k-pop industry. Like, we’re talking NMIXX’s O.O infamous for anyone who began getting into the genre after 2021. I won’t mince my words. I hate this song, and I hate it because it was so close to being alright. It’s really not that bad; it has decent parts and even a pretty good chorus. Unfortunately, I can’t focus on any of that because of the 2nd grade child scream-playing a flute directly in my ear while an infuriating metronome-esque ticking noise echoes through the whole thing and bunch of twenty-something men one flimsy clothing piece away from being shirtless hip-thrust at the screen. Give me O.O or Gingamingayo any day of the week, heaven help me.

Favorite (Vampire) also has an annoyingly high wind instrument over its beat, because apparently no one learned from the last time. I do like this one, though; it feels more like Limitless and Regular in its mixture of hip-hop and boy band R & B, and I have pretty similar feelings about it that I did for those: pretty good, but not quite great, and probably not something I’d choose to listen to. Shout-out to Doyoung’s voice in the bridge, though, because it was probably my favorite part.

From the album, Favorite, I enjoyed the “but tonight, we dance” hook from Love On The Floor, the swells of emotion and background strings in That Rainy Night, and the summery lightness in Road Trip. However, my hidden gem was the brassy, in-your-face Dreamer, which had some great percussion and drive. Overall, though, this album was very heavy on the noise music and thus, not really for me.

Album #4: Ay-Yo

2 Baddies, admittedly, was a song I’d been dreading listening to because I knew I would probably have nothing nice to say. And unfortunately, I was right; besides the ridiculousness that is the hook and the references to….Blues’ Clues of all things? Why? This song has the absolute nerve to have such a great pre-chorus that I almost forgot what song I was listening to, and then the chorus punched me in the face. Hard pass, guys.

Ay-Yo is pretty much the NCT 127 template recycled for the umpteenth time, albeit with a decent chorus. It’s definitely not as grating as 2 Baddies or Sticker (very few things are) but it’s still not something I would go out of my way to listen to again. It’s just…like every other boy group song out there.

From the album, Ay-Yo, I enjoyed the “can we fix it” hook from Time-Lapse and the “feeling wonderful” hook from DJ (though not the rest of the songs), the harmonizing and minimal instrumentation in Designer, and the easygoing, chanty chorus of LOL. The rest of the album, unfortunately, was not for me.

Album #5: Fact Check

Fact Check starts with back-to-back raps right out of the gate before going into what’s a pretty decent build up with interesting drums before crashing down with an anti-drop. If you had this on your bingo card, you win a prize! I would write something interesting about Fact Check, but unfortunately, I don’t have anything interesting to say.

From the album, also called Fact Check, I liked the jazzy background and chanting outro in Space, and the quite lovely lyrics of Misty (which apparently the members wrote; I hope they get the chance to do that more often!). My hidden gem was definitely Angel Eyes, though; the synth mixed with a rock edge and clap-along was great.

Album #6: Walk

Walk marks NCT 127’s 8th Anniversary, and I have to say…I don’t hate it? I know, I know, it’s shocking. Taking from a nineties / early aughts hip-hop sound that reminded me of SHINHWA’s classics like Perfect Man, it’s got a solid flow that had me grooving along at points, and though its choruses still lean into the sing-talk, it’s much smoother than any of their last singles. And the bridge was one of their best, especially its lead-in to the final chorus and the falsetto vocalizing. I still have my gripes, of course, such as wishing that the chorus had a little more of a build up and payoff, but on the whole, I thought it was pretty good! I even added it to my library. I’m hoping—perhaps foolishly—that this could be the start of a new era for NCT 127. We’ll have to see!

From the album, also called Walk, I enjoyed the bridge and more melodic elements of the hook, the lovely vocalizing in Can’t Help Myself, and the great build-up in Suddenly. But, my hidden gem was easily the citypop Orange Seoul with its smooth saxophone riffs and simple percussion. It’s not a style I would’ve associated with NCT 127, but it really worked with their voices.

Verdict: TL;DR

So, you might be surprised to hear me say that I’m glad I did this, but I am. As mentioned, I’ve been a fan of NCT Dream for a while, and I wanted to give NCT 127 a try, instead of considering their music only noise and thus not worthy of my time. Even though I still enjoy Dream more, I’m happy to report that I was still wrong; I was overgeneralizing a five hour long discography into the six or so songs I’d heard and disliked, which isn’t a fair summary. I also watched their Lost Boys documentary, which I really enjoyed, and absolutely recommend. Though I can’t call myself a fan, I’ve certainly gained a respect for NCT 127 that I didn’t have before.

My Top 5 songs are Highway To Heaven, Superhuman, Paper Plane, Not Alone, and Regular, with Angel Eyes as an honorable mention. NCT 127 gets a 7.25 out of 10 from me, which is higher than I thought, if we’re being honest. I’ve made my feelings clear on their use of noise music and anti-drops, and it was really the b-sides (and a couple good singles) that saved them from…well, I don’t know. This is the lowest score I’ve given a group so far. While they’re very talented, I can’t help but think that the majority of their work doesn’t make good use of that talent, and I hope that it will in the future.

Next time, we’re up with a girl group! Tschüss!