Tae Goon 1st Mini Album

Tae Goon first attracted buzz for his connection to TVXQ's Hero Jae Joong who starred in the music video of his catchy debut single Call Me, but the 23-year-old newcomer has a lot more going for him than just being Jae Joong's friend. With boyish looks, easygoing stage charisma, and solid singing and dancing skills, Tae Goon bears a definite resemblance to SE7EN, if only because there have been so few notable all-around solo male pop acts since SE7EN. As a former "Battle Shinhwa" contestant, Tae Goon may have walked a longer road, but he's certainly doing better than Battle now.

Tae Goon's self-titled first mini-album is almost too easy to like. The album's style is basically the urban mix of R&B, dance, and hip-hop typical of K-pop, but all the tracks are well produced and very well arranged. There are no down moments, and any of the album's five songs would make decent first plugs, though it's pretty clear why Call Me (Track 2) was chosen as the debut single.

Now that we all live in the post-Tell Me era of K-pop, repetitive refrains and dance-along routines are just about requirements for dance hits, and if there's some cuteness thrown in, all the better. Tae Goon has all of that down pat with his first song Call Me. Written and composed by Sound of Strike who also produced the album, Call Me is a dance pop number with a silky melody, strong beats, electronica arrangement, and an oh-so-catchy "Call me" chorus that's guaranteed to get stuck in your head after one listen.

The money is on the sing-along chorus again for One Two Step (Track 3), which begins unremarkably with an indistinct melody and generic lyrics, but gets a lift once the pounding beats come in. Tae Goon's voice is curiously inconsistent, sounding different through the song's various changeups. Smooth, uptempo R&B ballad My Girl (Track 4) provides a better showcase for Tae Goon's vocals. Singing in a distinctly lower pitch than the harmonizing vocals, Tae Goon stands out with a more mature and less commercial vocal performance. He has to work on controlling his voice on the ending notes, but overall, he handles the track's subtle stylistic and vocal variations well, and the vocal arrangement for the song itself is outstanding.

Featuring rap by H-EUGENE, chart-friendly hip-hop number "I Know My Girl" (Track 5) would basically be right at home in a Big Bang album with its slick tongue-rolling rhymes, bombastic beats, and catchy, hand-raising chorus. Hands Up (Track 6) closes the album on a high note with a jumping track that combines everything good that came before - addictive beats, grooving melody, electronic mixes, R&B vocals - and throws in some old-school hip-hop party number flair for good measure.