Music Monday #256: Stray Kids - Chk Chk Boom

[hitokage]

Yeah, I know, it's been awhile AND this isn't even the most recent comeback from Stray Kids, but it's my series and I do what I want, okay? Okay then....

Artist: Stray Kids
Song: Chk Chk Boom
Release: July 2024
Genre: Kpop, EDM/hiphop
cw: Deadpool, Wolverine, guns, flashing

Watch on YouTube

And now I'm being reminded of why I kept putting off reviewing this song. It's excellent and I love it and it's a perfect example of Stray Kids ... meaning it's impossible to fit into a single box. Is it EDM? Very much so, complete with potentially annoying metallic burrs in the background. Is it hiphop? It certainly leans into having mostly rapped lines versus more traditional singing, but with enough from I.N and Seungmin to make it almost too much singing for stricter definitions (not that we let things like strict definitions stop us around here). Is it noise? Well, it's loud and unapologetic, so typical of Stray Kids, with lyrics that are a mix of ridiculous and tricksy word plays that seemingly speak more to Stray Kids' career than any sort of ongoing lore. Yes, I'm looking at you, Mr. I'm Strong Seo Changbin. XD

The video introduces the crossover we've all been waiting for since Kingdom: Legendary War and the formation of the unlikely friendship between Ryan Reynolds and Bang Chan. You can't go wrong with a Deadpool crossover (with bonus Wolverine). I can't remember now how much was shot on location and how much was done on green screen, but either way it looks impressive and very New York. As for the story and its place in Stray Kids' lore ... well, I'm still not sure I get what's going on here. Art vandalism that Stray Kids are somehow connected to - we see Han finishing one rectangle and it's implied he's done more of them, but with all of them being in the city together but the rectangles appearing all over the world... Considering Stray Kids have a couple different storylines running side by side and I'm not even sure which one this connects with... Which ever plot this is a part of, that plot is now set in the same universe as EXOPlanet, thanks to Ryan, and that's a fun little tidbit I'm not sure my writer brain actually needed.

At just barely two and a half minutes, Chk Chk Boom is both a completed thought and all too short, leaving the listener hungry for more. Which adds a twist of something almost like irony, given this is the A title for the album ATE. They released videos for three other tracks (MOUNTAINS, JJAM, and Stray Kids) (making 4 videos for an 8-track release), though at least one of those - Stray Kids - is very much not connected to any lore as that song and video both are all about Stray Kids as artists. I would love to say I'll feature even one of them here in the future, but it's questionable, so if this caught your interest, might want to look those up, too.


ATE is available now for streaming or purchase, along with subsequent album releases, GIANT (Japan) and HOP, meaning there's over a dozen videos that Stray Kids have put out since Chk Chk Boom, including yet another original Christmas song. I'm never getting caught up. XD


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