[Review] Twenty – KickFlip

KickFlip will be making a comeback early next month with the release of their next mini-album, My First Kick (with one member, AMARU, on hiatus for health reasons). Ahead of that release, the group returned earlier this week with the pre-release track, Twenty. It is the group’s first album release since their 3rd mini-album, My First Flip, led by the single My First Love Song in September last year. KickFlip also released a digital single album, From KickFlip, To WeFlip, to coincide with their 1st anniversary earlier this year.

Twenty kicks right into gear, bursting with energy from the very first second, with its rock energy. I really enjoyed the propulsion and blastfulness that the rock instrumental brings to the song. The guitar work was definitely admirable and gratifyingly intense, while the percussion added great textures and moments to the song. Altogether, Twenty‘s instrumental creates a very powerful atmosphere. And it alone makes Twenty quite memorable and fulfils a constant craving I have for rock music. Both KickFlip’s vocals and rapping in Twenty sound good, and I appreciate that they can be heard over the powerful rock instrumentation (some songs don’t do this as well, creating an unbalanced song). The wavy melodies, particularly in the chorus, also felt very memorable. Similarly, the way everything intensified in the final chorus, with the instrumentation and vocals, ends the track on such a strong, positive note. The letdown in Twenty was its bridge. It was nice and pleasant, but it felt a little generic amid everything else going on in the song. But that was honestly a brief moment, and so it is a minor critique of an otherwise bold and great song.

The music video reminded me of TWS’ hey! hey! from 2024, with the biggest difference being the unfortunate rejection that DONGHWA receives at the start. This sparks a road trip amongst the members, who do face some problems along the way, like the breakdown of their van (leading them to sleep directly on the road – maybe they shouldn’t have taken such an empty road). They end up hitchhiking successfully, even though the driver almost left most of the members behind in the beginning. From then on, the members have a successful rest of the trip, stumbling across the beach and finding their way onto a boat, where a humpback whale crashes into one of their group shots. In a post-credit scene, we see one of the members find a post-it note with the message “Whale, I miss you” on it. This message links back to the song, which is about getting a second chance to confess one’s love next time around, with the post-it note giving hope that that second chance can come again.

I highly recommend you check out the stage performances for this track. Their stable vocals are one aspect I was amazed by, especially given such upbeat choreography. As for the routine, I really enjoyed it. Nothing necessarily stood out on its own, but I liked how the routine complemented the track’s energy and melodies.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9/10