A Different Kind of Spicy — ATEEZ is Back!
It’s been nearly six months since we last heard a Korean release from fourth generation superstars ATEEZ, but the boy group is always worth the wait. THE WORLD EP.2 : OUTLAW is the follow up to 2022’s THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT and features six new pulse-pounding tracks. Much like every previous ATEEZ release, THE WORLD EP.2 : OUTLAW has no skips, but what sets this mini-album apart from previous releases (with the exception of THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT and SPIN OFF : FROM THE WITNESS) is that there’s also no real “album calming” track. There’s no ballad, no soft track for you to catch your breath while you listen to it; the energy in every track seems to build off the previous one, and I love it.
The Title Track: “BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)”
Track three on the mini-album, “BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)” may seem a lackluster follow up after previous title tracks “Guerilla” and “HALAZIA,” but don’t let your first listen fool you. ATEEZ knows what they’re doing, and they always do it well.
The track sees the return of rapper Seonghwa. For ATINY, we all remember how Seonghwa filled in for Mingi during live performances while Mingi was on hiatus, and he did a tremendous job. There is another upside to having Seonghwa fill in a rapper role: Wooyoung and Yeosang, members who normally have the fewest lines in ATEEZ tracks, have nearly as many (if not the same amount) as the other vocalists of the group.
The choreography for “BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)” is fun, and as soon as I saw the choreo for the beginning of the chorus, it instantly made me think of the Immortal Songs 2 episode that featured ATEEZ and Jessi while covering PSY songs, and how San did the “What Type of X” dance challenge with Jessi in the pre-show conversation. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see San drop it like that again, but so glad we did, and the fact that all of ATEEZ bodied the limbo move is an added bonus. But let's be real: there’s never any complaints in terms of the choreography in an ATEEZ release, as they’ve been killing it since debut.
At first, I didn’t really know how to feel about the music video for “BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)” because it’s so quick in every aspect, and it’s hard to take in all the nuances and references. By switching it from these different sub-units (bikers Seonghwa and Yeosang, cowboys Hongjoong and Mingi, dirty mechanics Jongho and Yunho, and fighters San and Wooyoung), it’s a little hard at first to figure out where exactly they’re taking their concept with these new roles. Life was so much easier when they were just little pirates, but now they’re alternate universe pirates and some other things I’m still trying to get a grasp on at the time of writing.
That said, the music video is just as fun as the choreography, and I only needed one view to figure that out. I love the parrot singing the chorus while hanging out with Yunho and Jongho, the fight sequence of cowboy Mingi in the bar, Seonghwa’s “look ma no hands!” moment on the motorcycle, San’s spinning kick and Triple H water spit moment, and the way that the bullet that Hongjoong shoots in the final minute ends in the face of the masked man who has appeared in the music videos for “Answer” and “Fireworks (I’m The One)” — see, I paid attention!
The music video ends with Mingi staring at wanted posters, with a big “Z” spray painted over them. The subtitles show the sentence, “So freaking persistent,” but the song that ends the track features either a voice (I think Seonghwa, but maybe Mingi) saying, “Can’t you see our wanted sign?” If that’s not an ominous setup for a future track, I don’t know what is.
The B-Sides
THE WORLD EP.2 : OUTLAW opens with “This World,” a fun beginning seeing as THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT ends with “New World.” “This World” gives off immediate Stranger Things vibes. It’s very synth-heavy at the beginning in a dark way, and I would’ve loved to hear the rest of the album continue with those kinda vibes.
The “HALA HALA (Hearts Awakened, Live Alive)” stan in me lives for how the song has become such an integral part of ATEEZ’s concept, and it gave me a rush when I heard Seonghwa say, “HALA HALA,” at the beginning of “Dune.” “Dune” and “DJANGO” are the only tracks I would consider chill, but even then they’re not exactly chill. “Dune” has a beautiful build-up into the chorus, somewhat of an antidrop but not exactly, but there’s no way a song can be considered truly chill when Jongho is belting out notes as only he can. That, and the song picks up after the first chorus. With “DJANGO,” the tempo and beats switch up between verses and choruses, and it’s a really interesting composition. It keeps you on your toes, and it’s grown to be a favorite for me on the mini-album.
Honestly, there’s something about “Wake Up” that makes me think it should’ve been or could’ve been a really good ending track. Maybe it’s the way Jongho lets loose on the high notes in a way that’s so final sounding or the way Hongjoong whispers, “Wake up,” at the very end, but I think ending on this song would’ve been really cool. That said, “Outlaw” ends the album with a tire squeal beginning, police sirens, and a rap from Mingi and Hongjoong. Starting with a rap from both rappers is different, with their verses usually being separated by a vocal verse and a chorus, but I like having them both at the beginning. Of course we still get additional verses from them, but I think having both rappers do shorter verses instead of each getting longer verses allows for the remaining six members to have ample time to shine.
While all of the B-sides are amazing, which is another ATEEZ standard, none of them stand out to me as much as “Cyberpunk” on THE WORLD EP.1 : MOVEMENT. However, that could also just be my San ult bias shining through and the fact that seeing “Cyberpunk” live two nights in a row was the best thing that ever happened to me (see also: San is my ult).
In terms of ATEEZ, it’s hard to rate their releases because, no matter what, I know the songs are going to grow on me. Even as I’m writing this, I’m still waffling on the ratings a bit because ATEEZ has the uncanny ability to take a genre and flip it on its head, making something that only they could, which then makes you appreciate it even more. If you ask me a week from now what I’d rate this mini-album and the music video for “BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS),” I’m sure it’d be 10s all around, but for now, this is where I’m at.