[Review] Oh My Girl return with surprisingly lightweight “Bungee”

Oh My Girl are no stranger to the summer single, gaining popularity with their 2016 cover of K-pop classic “A-ing“. New single “Bungee” arrives as a repackage title track, contrasting May’s lush “The Fifth Season“ with a more straightforward blast of upbeat pop. As someone who prefers when the group steers a little left-field, “Bungee” feels surprisingly lightweight.

Oh My Girl do what they can with a somewhat superfluous track, but they’ve proven themselves a much more interesting group than this. That being said, I’ve been craving another big girl group summer track since WJSN first whet our appetite at the beginning of June. Producers Duble Sidekick, who used to supply SISTAR with summer hits on the regular, have been completely absent this season. I kind of wish Oh My Girl had drafted them for this song. Instead, “Bungee” is crafted by the Joombas team — no less than five separate composers in this case. Joombas has given K-pop its fair share of hits, but often has a tendency to go too generic. As pleasant and toe-tapping as “Bungee” is, it lacks individual flair.

Opening with quintessential summer guitar, the track quickly leaps into its sprightly verse. Oh My Girl’s always-strong vocals help keep things aloft, though I could do without the aegyo-infused, chanted asides that pop up too frequently throughout the track. The chorus has a buoyant feel, keeping the energy light with a melody that’s crisp and accessible. Its unadventurous nature suffers when compared to the group’s past few singles, but a song like this was never designed to rewrite the rules. At the very least, it’s comforting to hear a summer track that doesn’t rely on tropical blips and bloops to give it seasonal appeal.

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IATFB says: Cute and peppy without anything that usually makes those types of song work, like any appealing melody or hook whatsoever.