Album reviews

Bruno Mars

‘Doo-wops & Hooligans’

(Warner Music Korea)

Why we recommend it: Coke, community service or whatever, Bruno Mars knows how to perk up ears: hook, line and sinker.

Best tracks: “The Other Side,” “Count on Me” and “Grenade”

Bruno Mars is pure fun.

The singing sensation boasts his versatility in a beguiling debut album, sliding from R&B to sunny West Coast pop in the course of eight minutes.

The 25-year-old singer-songwriter finds his influence from everything: doo-wop to Michael Jackson.

Mars (real name Peter Hernandez) has been singing since childhood, doing Elvis impersonations and the like, but didn’t make his steps toward L.A. big times until B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ on You,” quickly followed by Travis McCoy’s “Billionaire.”

The longtime musician managed to work his way up based on his writing skills (Mars co-wrote Cee-Lo’s “F-ck You”) and vocal flair, and his U.S. release made way last October.

Opener and single “Grenade” promises a thrilling ride from the outset.

The unrequited love-driven number shows an enthusiastic launch, further one-upped in the honeyed “Just the Way You Are.” Mars then dips into the sultry R&B of “Our First Time” before catalyzing into the ultra-poppy beat of “Runaway Baby” ― accompanied by background police sirens.

The whirlwind genre tour comes to a standstill at an impasse of self/social introspection in “The Lazy Song” and “Liquor Store Blues.”

The former, a modern-day anthem for youths, brings an immediate intimacy to the acclaimed singer, while “Liquor” serves as a somber homage to those disillusioned and jaded:

“Cause my job’s got me going nowhere/So I ain’t got a thing to lose/Take me to a place where I don’t care.”

The culmination of the album’s multi-faceted sides is found in “The Other Side,” featuring Cee-Lo and B.o.B. The clean production oversees a complex synergetic effect on talent, providing the best track by Mars, who takes a look into the endless dilemma of “greener grass.”

While the release is undeniably an entertaining collection of pop songs (albeit skillfully tinged with every genre), the result nevertheless sounds like a collection of ghost choruses.

From “Somewhere to Brooklyn” to even “Grenade,” traces of classic chord sequences can be heard whispering underneath.

But, they’re easy to overlook for listeners lost in the haze of Mars’ savvy.

Two-and-a-half stars out of four.

― Ines Min