With the understandable delays in many comebacks we’re left with very little teaser material for TST*, otherwise known as Teaser [TS] Tuesday. This presents us with a dilemma. We cannot explain past teasers to you, as the mvs have already been released and we already know what the TS trails were hinting at.
Therefore what is the alternative? We think we have a solution. Last week we looked at Misleading Teasers week we will be looking at Addictive Teasers. Those teaser releases that have us pressing the repeat button continuously because they are just so good.
TVXQ – Keep Your Head Down
It might be another SMTown choreography teaser but Keep Your Head Down keeps you hooked. Not only would we soon find that it was an accurate representation of the sound and mv to come, but it shows of Yunho and Changmin well.
Presenting the duo in solo spots and highlighting their dance ability is never something their fandom will argue with.
It doesn’t matter that they wear fringe, or fur, trimmed outfits – KYHD shows off their masculinity and strength.
Boyfriend – Debut Teaser
This would also fit perfectly in out Misleasing Teasers category as the image portrayed in Boyfriend’s debut teaser what not the one they launched with. Watch their self named debut song and you’ll get cute, perfect boy-next-door for the young Korean fan base. The teaser however hinted at a harder hitting, sexier image, with one member even baring his chest. It might have been misleading, but you can’t help watching again.
Block B – NalinA
NalinA holds no punches, when this single released you got exactly what had been promised. What undoubtably made the NalinA TS so addictive was the sound, even if the vocals had not been included in the TS it would have been easy to tell that the song was going to be catchy.
They may have given away most of the best visual moments in 30 seconds but that didn’t stop us replaying this in anticipation, or having the mv on repeat for that matter.
2PM – Grown Trailer
Technically not a teaser for a single, but for a whole album, we’d eventually find that 2PM’s Grown trailer sets up scenes reminiscent of those in A.D.T.O.Y.
The sound wasn’t anything we’d hear from the promoted tracks but it set the scene for the image they were promoting with Grown. We’re 2PM, we’re still sexy but now we’ve grown up too. Whomever your 2PM bias this trailer made sure no one was left out. There is also the wonderful vantage point twist that has you believing you’re the eyes of someone almost spying on the 2PM member, really you’re just following Chansung’s curious little cat, Jeonggam. I doubt it was the cat that had everyone repeating this trailer however.
EXO – Debut Teaser Trail
Four months SM ran teasers for EXO, if there is one way to have fans repeating teasers it is to draw out how long they have to wait for a release. Kai was the first member to be revealed, and appeared in an impressive twelve teasers, seven of those solo ones. Unbeknownst to fans at the time EXO PLANET was in fact the fictional home planet of the group, and each member would bear a symbol of power. We now know Baekhyun controls light, Tao hold the power to control time – then we didn’t know Kai’s power is teleportation. His continual appearance in teasers connected the twelve members, teleporting them to earth for the moment they would debut.
A personal favourite is Kai’s TS for What Is Love, a teaser that runs seamlessly from Sehun’s for the same song. If you are an EXO fan, whatever your favourite teaser, chances are you replayed some of these more than once.
Which teasers could you not resist playing on repeat?
* The shortened version of the name, TST, comes from a scientific theory known as Transition State Theory. This theory is used to understand how chemical reactions take place, and explains the rates of these reactions.
In terms of our subject of teaser trails in Kpop, these theories are very apt. TS trails are created to cause a reaction and we will be looking to explain what the teaser media tells us, what it is that causes these reactions. Hence our TST molecular logo.
