Guy on the right: starting to feel a little abused, like a coffee machine in an office…
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[6.00]
Alfred Soto: This dubstep, eighties boom boom bap and lupine mating call hybrid kicks up an awful, glorious racket. The apotheosis of K-pop.
[7]
Sonya Nicholson: SM Entertainment have always pushed the envelope with their science fiction concepts and international-language-of-nonsense hooks (Ring Ding Dong, right?) but “That’s right wolf — I’m a wolf! Awhooo!” might be a new high for them, or a new low, depending on your perspective. FUN FACT: This song was released on the same day as the third season premiere of MTV’s Teen Wolf. Clearly EXO, with their werewolf concept, and SHINee, with their zombie concept, and VIXX, with their devil concept, are going for the same audience. And why not? With domestic demand for idol groups in free fall in Korea, the companies have to recoup their investment from somewhere, and the overseas K-pop audience definitely draws from the same well as the casual SFF crowd. And everyone loves a good supernatural love story. Moving beyond the concept — which is more than fine — this song, while audacious, lacks something. I’m going to say that it lacks a sense of fun. It’s both aggressive and declawed, experimental and joyless. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss the terrifying methamphetamine weirdness of the original version. If you’re going to challenge your audience, challenge them all the way. The choreography is a 10, however.
[5]
Iain Mew: Even more than previous Exo singles, there’s a suspicion that the over-the-top production and vocal choices are there to hide that there’s barely a song to hold together. That doesn’t make the cascading synth stalactites or wolf impressions any less enjoyable.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: “She Wolf” howls over harsh electro and the Wario Land soundtrack are promising. Brostep, shouting guys, retching guys and screeching guys are not.
[1]
Brad Shoup: Begins aggressively off-putting, then settles for aggressive, which means hair-metal choruses, gonzo harmonies, meter-breaking drum clatter. I don’t know if this is camp, or just ornately weird. Very impressively rendered, in either case.
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: Korea’s pop industry adapted to brostep so early that, in 2013, wubs feel like a natural sonic element from the big labels. What’s remarkable about “Wolf” is how unremarkable the EDM-ish bits sound. They make up the spine of the song, a good backdrop for Exo to howl against and make everything not drop-like sound incredible. See the way Exo break into sing-song falsetto in the first verse, or how they make the plinky bridge sound all the more dramatic. The wolf thing wears thin — did they really need the growls? — but there are enough great moments to make up for it.
[7]
Anthony Easton: I am on record as in favour of any song that features wolf howls, and I am even more in favour of a song whose symbols are so literal. It’s just on the edge of being camp cheese, which makes me love it even more.
[7]