Review: AA (Double A)–“Because I’m Crazy”

Clearly someone thought that making the Double A members wear human bones was a good idea.


Did you like the song?
“Because I’m (Going) Crazy” is the debut song for a group unfortunately named AA—ostensibly for their average age (22) and heights (taaaallll), but I’m beginning to think it was just Kpop management companies trolling fans again. Google search their name and you will become part of the joke. Similar to SS501, it’s supposed to be pronounced “Double A,” but I suspect they will soon get rid of the “AA” and just switch over to “Double A.” So that’s what I’ll go with.

This song is a fun electro-pop number that has a great chorus. There’s also a cool section towards the end of the song where Kimchi, Aoora, and Woosang are all kind of singing over each other, which led to a neat effect. But for me the song falters when it slows down; for example, I didn’t care for the piano sections or Woosang’s slow solo part.

Also, Hoik’s voice seems…strangely unsuited for this song, at least to my ears. I don’t know, his voice somewhat reminds me of Super Junior’s Kyuhyun’s: lovely whenever, but more suited to ballads where he can show off his range than fast dance numbers. But at least nobody was auto-tuned! Thank you so much for sparing me, Double A!

Aoora, Joowon, Woosang, Kimchi, and Hoik.
What was your favorite part of the song?
No question, the first line of the chorus, which was accompanied by the best dance move of the song as they move towards the floor and then do body waves on their knees. *fans self*

Does the English make you want to rip your eardrums out?
Joowon’s rap has pretty decent English, and from Aoora we get an actual English rhyme that makes sense! I think the last time that happened was way back in Jay Park’s “Demon”! The lyrics are “Break my heart, break your heart; let’s come back back back back back to the start.” We also get that one English line that keeps popping up: “Baby, let me love you down.” Double A borrows it from Usher’s “OMG”—which Usher in turn borrowed from Ready For the World’s “Love You Down,” an 80s song. They probably borrowed it from somebody, too. Anyway, “let me love you down” is just slang for sex. But it’s an unusual phrase not commonly used (except, it seems, in pop songs).

Did you like the video?
Cameraman-sshi likes moving the camera at weird angles more than anybody I know. It’s more apparent when you’re trying to screencap this thing! Anyway, apparently the guys helped to design their concept and outfits, but I’m sorry, this video concerned me. I was expecting cannibalism or ritualistic animal sacrifice at any moment. Did we have to have the walls resemble human arteries?

Or red tree branches…I guess?
And WTF is going on with their costumes here? Goth much? Why are they wearing fake (I hope) human bones and covered in fake (I hope) blood?

Woosang, Joowon, Aoora, Kimchi (…yeah), and Hoik.
Was there a storyline? If so, did it make sense?
NEON!!! That’s pretty much it.

HERE, HAVE SOME NEON.
Was the dance cool and distinctive?
You know, these poor guys are getting a lot of flak for their dance being too feminine or too much like a girl group dance or whatever. I get it, and I see it, too. They even do SNSD’s “chicken leg” dance from “Genie.” And Woosang in particular has a fluidity to his movements that we don’t get to see much in Kpop. But you know who else I heard similar criticisms about once? SHINee! So you keep on with your bad selves, Double A! If doing body waves this well makes you look “gay,” then I’m all for it.


Complete with Kimchi’s sexy hair flip.
Do the members look good?
Woosang is the prettiest but a little awkward in his intensity because the other members didn’t match him, Hoik is not intense enough because I hardly noticed him, Joowon has really great facial features, and Aoora weirded me out by spending so much of the beginning of the video on his knees, but at least he and Kimchi have distinctive hair.

(Back:) Hoik, Woosang, Joowon, (front:) Aoora, and Kimchi.
Which member stood out the most?
From that, I think that while Aoora and Woosang stood out the most and were the hottest to me personally, despite his silly name Kimchi struck the best balance of intensity and looked the most natural in the video. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that at the moment he has Super Junior’s Eunhyuk’s bleached hair. But check out the live version; it’s clearly an Aoora-and-Woosang party.

Do you like it enough to buy the song?
I’m pretty on the edge, which means probably not. The chorus is good but not good enough for me to purchase it.

Any ending thoughts?
Speaking of their average age being 22, for a debut group, there is a pretty large age disparity, or at least it seems so to me. Aoora (1986) previously debuted in 2009 as the solo artist gn.E. Then Kimchi is so cute and considered the maknae—but he is actually a month older than Hoik (1993), who is the real maknae. A seven year gap seems like a lot in a group that’s just getting started. Pretty soon we’ll be talking about Aoora enlisting in the army...and I’m not sure who is the leader of the group, Aoora or Woosang (1990). There seem to be conflicting sources.

Also, LOL at the top comment on Youtube by Nearisagoodname that their fanclub should be “Batteries.” Aha, those Youtube commentators are so amusing.

Boyfriend’s one-liner:
“They look like a Satanic cult that likes to wear spiky crap and animal bones.”

Thanks for reading! Please share your comments below! :)