A-Jax "Snake" (2013) + Final Thoughts

An Album a Day

An Album a Day is my exploration into the Korean music scene. This podcast will cover mainstream, indie and some underground artists within the scene and provide both factual and opinionated commentary. The biggest benefit to sharing my thoughts this way is that it will hopefully expose you to more great music and exploration of your own.

On October 21, 2013, A-Jax was announced to have what would ultimately be their final comeback, Snake. The EP dabbled in the rock genre at a time when other boy groups in the scene were much heavier on synthesizers and other electronic dance music subgenres. Were slithering around the final album and Ill share my final thoughts, right after the drop.

Youre tuned into An Album a Day. Show start.

Hey yall, just a quick heads up that this Friday, January 29, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. Central Time here in the States, Season 1 Episode 2 of A3Day Sister Show kicks off on www.a3daysistershow.com. Heres a little about the show.

[A3Day Sister Show trailer]

Lets assess Snake, a four-track EP (title track instrumental included) for what it truly was or is: a risky album to make. The guys had no reason to adjust their genre approach per se, and it might have done them in. Going against the masses is a worthwhile risk from time to time but the EP is simply okay. The title track, Snake, is playful and certainly funky but its not really for the club or the coffee shops. Now, dont misunderstand, the song isnt bad and works for radio and possibly a commercial along the lines of Old Navy here in the United States, but this should have been their second single.

The track that shouldve headed this project off is It Girl, an R&B song with a sound adjacent to a jazz club of sorts. The sound and context works across several age groups and perhaps it wasnt chosen as the first single because of this? I cant imagine a 15-year-old falling in love with It Girl as much as an older teenager or friends in their 20s and 30s at norebang, so that couldve been an obstacle. The final track, Stay with me, is another R&B song with a catchy rhythmically syllabic chorus. By the time I got into it, the song was going off -- its 3 minutes long. Thats not good.

K-pop fans on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being essential listening and 1 not worth mentioning, the A3Day rating for this album and their complete Korean discography is a 4. That rank stems largely from their continued cohesive production and performance, and willingness to try something new. They eventually earned the number 13 spot on Korean charts with this one, but enlistments, amicable departures, and terminations marred the group from that point on. Whatever potential they had for advancing as a group, even with member changes, stopped at the end of this album. Its a bit of a disappointment, honestly. They werent bad, but they werent standouts in the scene either. Whatever it is that they are pursuing these days, I truly wish them all the best.

Continue to check out the #A3Day Highlights Playlist on Spotify, as it features tracks from todays albums and past episodes artists, and Ill catch you in the next episode, bye yall.

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