No Way Out from Mr Mr's catchy, clunky funk

Usually K-pop songs are improved by listening to them without the visuals: the eye-popping CGI and perfectly synchronised dance moves teamed with perfect bodies and faces can distract the ear as well as the eye. 

Last week while watching the live shows I became enamoured of Mr Mr's Out - any band wearing suits, boy or girl, immediately gets my attention, and the song had a clunky electronic funk charm. 

I've never paid much attention to Mr Mr, who debuted in 2012, mainly because they share their name with a horrific '80s soft rock band. But when one of them out-Michael Jacksoned Taemin with his track Dangerous, I started paying attention. (He was soon out MJed by Teen Top's Niel on his solo debut.)

I downloaded Out, but when I listened to it on my work commute I wondered what I had seen in it, and concluded it must have been my eyes talking my ears into it. A week later, the track is still haunting me, for reasons I can not explain. 

Ah, the mysteries of pop.

Meanwhile, Tey's solo track Dangerous is included on the band's album and it's pretty much the best track on it. It's obvious what's great about it, despite the Smooth Criminal rip-off chorry. The spare groove is solid, the vocals smooth the corners and Tey sings with conviction. In this Pops in Seoul interview he talks about how he "tried very hard to mimic Michael Jackson" for the song. Mission accomplished. Skip to the end to see the MV, but as usual with the Pops interviews, there are a few other interesting titbits if you've got the patience.

Mr Mr have had a fairly colourful time in the few years they have been together, losing three members, including Ryu, who left citing verbal and physical abuse in this extraordinary post from the fan cafe. Underneath is the response from the company's CEO which is just extraordinary ("Yes I did hit him with the binder, but it wasn't as thick as he says it was").

Good luck guys (and Ryu)! Keep wearing those suits!