Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Hello and welcome to the second b-side playlist of the year! Lots of great stuff came out during January, so I’m not gonna waste time with a long ramble before we get into it. Let’s go!
Golden Child – “Cool Cool”
So, technically this song has been promoted alongside Golcha’s new title, but it was my favourite off their new mini. I didn’t overall love this one as much as I loved, for example, Take A Leap, but overall it’s pretty solid and this track is a good, fun boy group bop.
Jeong Sewoon – “Fine”
Oh, smooth. Smooth smooth vocals. Just lovely.
MCND – “KO, OK!”
Before I listened to this song, I did sort of assume that it was going to sound like the opening theme for the cartoon “OK K.O!”, but obviously it doesn’t. I really, really like this track though – of all the songs on this playlist, this one went into my personal monthly playlist the fastest.
(G)I-DLE – “MOON”
This track is slightly let down by the chorus, but it’s actually a very pretty song overall. Good job, ladies.
VICTON – “Circle”
VICTON are one of those groups where I somehow don’t follow them closely even though I like a fair few of their songs (my other main example being CRAVITY), but I swear one of these days that will change.
TREASURE – “BE WITH ME”
I like this direction for Treasure, more of this please!
Epik High – “In Self-defense”
Some of you may have noticed that my bio underneath all my playlists says “I like Epik High more than you do”. This is not me kidding, because I almost certainly do; I love Epik High. Every album of theirs is an event for me. I love this whole album so much and picking just one b-side felt like choosing a favourite child (I assume, anyway). Listen to this one but also listen to the whole album if you haven’t already.
AB6IX – “MAYBE”
This is the second time this song has been released, but it’s on the mini that came out in January so it counts. It was close between this one and “Bloom”, and I only chose this one because I picked the other one before. Loopholes!
CRAVITY – “Dangerous”
I can attest to the fact that this track is great background music for when you have chores that you really don’t feel like doing – I played this earlier today when I was cleaning my kitchen and it made everything much better. Cravity stop releasing bops challenge: failed.
ONEUS – “Leftover”
Fun, playful Oneus is my favourite Oneus.
U-Know – “Loco (House Party)”
What can I say about Yunho that hasn’t already been said? He’s the best, and he’s having a good time, and that’s all I need.
Cherry Bullet – “Keep Your Head Up”
This song is a bit chaotic but who cares? Not me, certainly. Nobody does it like girl groups.
DREAMCATCHER – “Wind Blows”
So I usually see Dreamcatcher live once a year, right – I go with my best friend (who loves them) and DC are one of our shared faves. What I mean by all this is – they are solid and consistent and they don’t disappoint me, musically.
HyunA – “Show Window”
I gave “I’m Not Cool” a miss, but the rest of HyunA’s latest is so lovely in parts that I really had to stop myself from buying it after a single listen. I love HyunA really showing off her sweet vocals.
Bobby – “GOrGeOuS”
I struggled a lot with this album – at least for the first half. I found the first few tracks fairly abrasive, but once it slowed down and they got more melodic I had a lot more time for it. I actually think this kind of song suits Bobby’s voice the best, as a nice contrast. I do wonder why all the track titles are tYpED LiKE ThIs (like mocking Spongebob??), however.
KIM WOO SEOK – “Tasty”
This mini doesn’t miss. Love that energy for Wooseok.
…and that’s it! As always, let me know your favourite b-sides either here or on twitter, and happy listening!
