HINOIチーム with コリッキー
STICKY TRICKY AND BANG

01. STICKY TRICKY AND BANG
02. ON MY OWN (Special Version)
03. NIGHT OF FIRE (DJ GUN MIX)
04. YEAH! (コリッキー本気［マジ］Version)
05. STICKY TRICKY AND BANG (HINOIチームVersion)
06. STICKY TRICKY AND BANG (Instrumental)
07. ON MY OWN (Special Version Instrumental)

Overall rating: 3.5/5
This isn’t about to pull any new converts.

On the whole I would say that this single doesn’t match up to the standard set by their previous one, NIGHT OF FIRE. This is not to say that STICKY isn’t a good effort. It is a disappointment merely because I was expecting it to surpass NIGHT OF FIRE, and well, it failed to. Perhaps it isn’t fair to keep raising the bar for each Hinoi Team single, but most people would agree that up to NIGHT OF FIRE, each one of their singles was better than the last. Unfortunately I don’t think they managed to deliver with this single.

The title track STICKY TRICKY AND BANG is extremely upbeat in a cute and lighthearted way. It reminds me of those Sesame Street and Hi5 children’s songs, actually. It’s nice to sing along and KORIKKI’s voice doesn’t overpower the vocals. What’s irritating is the girls cheering random English lyrics like “Funky Feeling! Happy Feeling! And Shout!” It’s a nice and listenable song, but it is far more forgettable than the previous Hinoi a-sides. avex should be more discerning in choosing the songs in the future.

ON MY OWN is released as a so-called “Special Version” on this single, meaning that the “regular” version would be found on their album. This could be due to laziness on the part of the record company because a remix is certainly easier to produce. Personally this is an okay song to me, the usual Hinoi Team fare. I’ll wait for the “regular” one before I make any comments on the song itself.

Korikki’s YEAH! is quite frighteningly, my favourite track off this single. YEAH! was a b-side song on the previous Hinochi single, and I liked it very much for its smooth vocals and upbeat lyrics. Well Korikki’s version has surpassed my expectations! I’m glad Korikki’s finally making the switch from Comedian to “Artist”. Even in the promotional footages of STICKY events, Korikki seems less eager to make you laugh and more focussed on delivering the goods ie. the music/dance. I think I can take this guy (more) seriously from now on.

STICKY TRICKY AND BANG dance:

DOWNLOAD the PV here.

I still love the dance choreography for this song, but somehow with this dance they seem to be diluting the para-para element. There are less of the classic para para moves and more formation changes. Unless my eyes are deceived they also have an AEROBICS move thrown in there.

Also, what’s with that schoolkid clapping game they had in the middle of the whole thing?

It might not be a good move to deviate too much from the central concept of Hinoi Team, which is Para Para. I can’t speak for others but the reason why I am a fan is because of the Para Para. If they stop doing Para Para in it’s true form I can see many fans like myself being alienated. Experiment with other forms of dance music like trance by all means, but don’t throw the original formula away!

Despite the unParaPara parts of the dance I’m still quite happy to have a new dance to learn.