Oddinary: EP Review

‘What is your favourite Stray Kids album?’

My brow furrows. Dread works its way down my spine. I have been asked a question that I cannot answer.

The obvious answer would be Noeasy. My favourite song of all time, ‘Silent Cry’, comes from that album, and I believe it is the record that best showcases Stray Kids’ versatility. There’s such a wide range of moods, lyrical themes and stylistic influences displayed throughout the course of Noeasy’s fourteen tracks, and yet it’s all unquestionably them. However, as much as I love Noeasy, I enjoy their other projects so much that I can’t simply declare it my unquestioned favourite.

There’s just so many to choose from! Clé 1: Miroh has some of my top favourite Stray Kids songs; I Am Not and I Am Who are incredibly impressive coming from such young artists; 5-Star is remarkably bold and exciting; Clé: Levanter is a beautiful and meaningful album that deserves so much more love; and every single track on Maxident is highly enjoyable. And, of course, the focus of this review, Oddinary.

Oddinary is over two years old, not a ‘new’ album by any stretch of the imagination. However, I remember when it was new, and it’s no exaggeration to say that it changed my life. I know that sounds highly dramatic, but since it was the album that got me into Stray Kids, I’d say it’s a very accurate statement. Sentimental value aside, this is a hell of an album, and I’m going to explain to you exactly why I like it so much.

Track by track

‘Venom’ – My dad likes this song. That probably doesn’t have any value to you, as you don’t know my dad (unless you are one of his friends who stumbled across this answer in which case, hi Wayne), but let me tell you that he is not an easily pleased fellow. Whenever we watch a new movie, he usually ends up trashing it as soon as the credits roll, and no matter what he’s talking about, he always has some form of snarky comment ready. However, he really enjoys ‘Venom’ – and I can tell it’s in a genuine way, not a trying-to-appease-his-boyband-crazy-teenage-daughter way. Something he’s pointed out as a highlight is the instrumental, and I 100% agree; I think it’s incredibly addictive. This song was their opener at Lollapalooza Paris, and the hype of the moment the first chorus hit is something that will stay with me forever.

However, I do have to take a few teeny-tiny points off because of the way the Japanese version jumpscares me whenever I listen to the ‘This Is Stray Kids’ playlist on Spotify. It will never not be jarring! With that said, my petty complaints don’t take away from the fact that it’s a great song (with a really great prechorus and a really great second verse from Hyunsung), and a perfect opener to the album.

‘Maniac’ – This song is one of my top three SKZ title tracks, no question. I have to admit, it ain’t one or two, but that’s just because ‘Side Effects’ and ‘Miroh’ are untouchable. One of the best things about this song is how 100% confident they are about the concept. A key of theme of the album is being an outsider, being odd (it’s right there in the name), and nowhere is this better exemplified than ‘Maniac’. It’s impressive that SKZ pull off such a NLOK (Not Like the Other Kids) song without seeming tryhard or edgy for the sake of it. Sure, they definitely aren’t immune to corny-as-hell lyrics – ‘Comflex’, I love you, but you need to go and stand in the shame corner. However, I think ‘Maniac’ definitely manages to feel cool rather than cheesy. I highly respect their commitment to being zany little dudes.

Another spectacular element of this song is the chorus – and it wouldn’t be spectacular without Felix. Now, on paper, Felix doesn’t seem like a very important member of SKZ in terms of contributions to their music (I know that sounds so incredibly insulting, but I promise you I’m going somewhere with this). Sure, he’s a good dancer, but he isn’t a technically brilliant vocalist, and any chance he has of standing out due to his rapping is squashed by Changbin and Han being, well, Changbin and Han. However, there are two facts that are undeniable: Felix has a very deep voice, and his voice sounds extremely cool. ‘Maniac’ is up there with my beloved ‘Side Effects’, and perhaps ‘Victory Song’, in terms of the best usages of Felix’s voice in all of Stray Kids’ discography. If you were a peasant in ancient times who came to the mouth of a dark cave seeking treasure and you heard a voice booming from the cave’s depths, it would sound something like Felix, and ‘Maniac’ fully unleashes the epicness of that sinister-cave-voice potential.

‘Charmer’ – When I was a new Stray Kids fan, I used to just replay the intro of this song, over and over again. Honestly, I didn’t even care to know what lay beyond that; just those first few precious seconds were enough for me. I wanted to make it my ringtone at one point. I’m pretty sure I needed to download GarageBand to do it, and I didn’t have enough storage space. I suppose I could always try again now that I’ve updated my phone. Sorry, I’m getting ever so slightly off topic. I love the intro of ‘Charmer’, is my point!

Obviously, at some point, I dared to listen up to the point where they started saying stuff. Though the later portions of the song perhaps aren’t as ringtoneable, they are still excellent. I really enjoy Han’s opening lines; I think all of the members deliver this song in a really satisfying, playful (dare I say charming?) way, and he in particular sounds like he’s really having fun with it. The chorus is immensely addictive and the previous sections of the song really get you hyped up for it. This is especially the case with the final chorus: it’s a delightful burst of energy. I’d really, really love to see this song performed live. I’ve seen loads of clips from concerts, and the choreography, coupled with SKZ’s charisma, make it evident that I would absolutely delight in seeing this in person.

‘Freeze’ – This review has, so far, been almost obnoxiously positive. However, I’m afraid I have to break that up a little bit here. You see, I have a tiny confession to make… I used to rather dislike ‘Freeze’.

Okay, calm down, calm down! That Nachimbong is going to start melting if you put it too close to your flaming torch, you know. I’m perfectly aware that Stays can get a little testyif you express an opinion that isn’t 100% glowing and sunshiney, so let me explain why I like ‘Freeze’ now (I’m not saying that to appease the hypothetical angry mob, I have genuinely come to enjoy it).

In the disgusting abomination of a Stray Kids discography tier list I made last year, I placed ‘Freeze’ in the bottom tier (I also had ‘Boxer’ down there, which should explain how loathsomely bad) it was. I’m pretty sure most of my dislike was due to the chorus: my dumb last-year self took off my headphones and went, ‘What in the Skrillex is this shit?!’ Since then, you’ll be pleased to know that I’ve changed my mind, and now I really like it. Perhaps it’s because I’ve started listening to quite a lot of EDM: I used to reallynot enjoy the drop in the chorus, but now I think it sounds very cool. And before anybody accuses me of forcing myself to like the song so I can claim SKZ have a no-skip discography or something like that – no, I just used to do and think a lot of dumb stuff, and now that my tastes have changed and diversified, I consider disliking ‘Freeze’ among that stuff. Also, Hyunjin’s lines right after Changbin and Felix open the track are the highlight of ‘Freeze’ to me. I can’t even explain why, his delivery is just really satisfying.

‘Lonely St.’ – Back when I had a TikTok account, I occasionally posted videos, and the majority of them were about K-pop. At one point, I recall that I made a ranking of Oddinary‘s songs. I won’t be doing the same in this answer (it would be simply impossible for me to come to a decision), but I want to talk about that TikTok for a minute. I can’t remember where I placed everything, but I know I put poor ‘Freeze’ in last. And, more importantly to this section of the review, I placed ‘Lonely St’ first.

Now, if I were to do another ranking, would ‘Lonely St’ still be at the top? I have to say… probably not. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the song – I very much do – but I hold this whole mini in such high regard that it’s remarkably difficult for me to pick one favourite. In addition to this, I have one little quibble with this song; it doesn’t detract from me liking it, but it’s an issue I have with quite a few K-pop songs. At the end of the chorus, they say ‘stuff it all’, presumably in place of ‘fuck it all’, and it kind of annoys me. ‘Topline’ can just about get away with that kind of PG-ifying, but no matter how much I like the artist, I always find the Disney Channel-ification kind of jarring. Despite this, I don’t want it to come across like I have nothing but complaints for this song. I love the emotion in their voices, this is another song with an intro that I just adore, and, I have to say, angsty SKZ is one of the most enjoyable varieties of SKZ.

‘Waiting For Us’ – This is the first of the album’s unit songs, sung by Bang Chan, Lee Know, Seungmin and I.N. I love Stray Kids’ unit songs (SKZ-Replay is my second-most played album of all time), as I love seeing what the smaller combinations of members come up with in terms of lyrics and thematic ideas; I feel it gives you an insight into their individual selves as artists. I honestly can’t decide whether this or ‘Muddy Water’ (more on that song in a tiny second) is my favourite unit track on the album. They’re both great, but they’re dramatically different, so it’s quite hard to compare them and decide. For now, I’ll just tell you my thoughts on ‘Waiting For Us’.

Stray Kids aren’t known for being vocal heavyweights – if a hypothetical K-pop fan was asked to list groups that sing really well, SKZ might not even cross their mind – but I really, really love their singing. Call me biased, and I suppose I very much am, but I think they have great voices that can show off so much emotion. All four of them sound beautiful here, but I’ve always been particularly captivated by Bang Chan in this track. His voice sounds delicate and vulnerable, but yet still warmly reassuring. Their falsetto is gorgeous, and it perfectly complements the stronger choruses. There are a handful of Stray Kids songs that I think just sound like a warm hug, and this is one of them.

‘Muddy Water’ – A YouTuber I’ve watched for years, James Marriott, reacted to this song on one of his livestreams. That isn’t really relevant to my thoughts on the song, I just recalled the feeling of wanting to dramatically point at my screen, drop my jaw and go, “HOLY SHITBALLS HE’S TALKING ABOUT STRAY KIDS!” Anyway, I really like ‘Muddy Water’, and I think it’s an extremely satisfying way to close the album. It’s another unit song, this time featuring Changbin, Hyunjin, Han and Felix. While the four of them have vastly different flows and lyrical styles, they all blend together to create a witty, powerful song. If you’re not a Korean speaker and you haven’t read a translation of ‘Muddy Water’, I would highly recommend doing so: it’ll give you a whole new level of appreciation for it.

Though Stray Kids perhaps don’t get enough appreciation for their vocals, they receive a whole lot of praise for their rap, and I think they deserve every bit of it. The lineup of members on this song is essentially the ‘rap line’ (while Bang Chan is obviously a part of 3racha, he’s more of a vocalist in SKZ’s music), and I think their synergy is delightful. I also love this song’s instrumental. It’s very groovy, and it reminds me of something you’d hear in classic 90s hip-hop. The piano at the start is very intriguing, and the instrumental continued to be excellently utilised throughout the song. The outro works great not just as a finisher to the song, but as a conclusion of the whole album.

A few more things

While Oddinary is by no means a cohesive album, it’s still a satisfying experience to listen to from beginning to end. It’s projects like this that make me feel the idea of an entirely cohesive (dare I say samey?) album is overrated. No two songs on Oddinary sound alike, but there’s a perfect blend of energetic and slightly more subdued tracks that make it enjoyable and fulfilling to play in the intended order. If you start getting tired out by the louder, hyped-up songs, don’t worry! You’re going to be in the mood for crying when the next one starts playing. And if you don’t like feeling all weepy, you’re going to be dancing again in a couple of minutes.

I also think it was a very important album in terms of pushing their career forward. It earned them their first #1 on the Billboard 200. Though that achievement wasn’t universally met with smiles (#StrayKidsFraudOnBillboard, anyone?), you can’t deny that it was a big stepping stone in their career. It gave them one of their most popular title tracks in ‘Maniac’, B-sides that pulled very impressive streaming numbers like ‘Venom’ and ‘Charmer’ and, undoubtably the most importantly, it made me a Stray Kids fan.

The 22nd of April marks two years since the group that rocked my world became my ults. Sure, it was a little while after Oddinary, but that album was certainly the catalyst for my falling down the rabbit hole of Stayhood. For that, I have to say: thank you very much, Oddinary. You did me a solid there, mate.

Originally published on Quora, 6/4/24.