[Review] “Catch The Stars” is a simple burst of energy that should help woo!ah! continue their gradual ascent

woo!ah! is a relatively new group that has showcased a lot of potential in the last couple years, and that’s somewhat reflected in their slowly rising popularity. While I haven’t been enamored with their singles to date, the b-side “Scaredy Cat” was one of my favorites from 2020, and “Catch The Stars” seems to aim at achieving their breakthrough with a public-friendly track.

Frustration dominated my early relationship with the song since the version I listened to had (and still does) serious issues with audio that made everything worse. Thankfully this was fixed on their official channel and wasn’t an issue on streaming platforms, and it’s a great thing that “Catch The Stars” wasn’t ruined by the mixing as it turned out to be a lot fun that injected a bit of life into the scene following a stretch of winter dreariness.

Relentlessly chipper from start to finish, “Catch The Stars” has a funky synthpop foundation with a bit of disco in it, relying on a simple and typical core to push it forward. On repeated listens the verses are actually not as generic as I had felt initially, with the interplay between the girls being surprisingly effective. Things get a bit funny during the pre-chorus though, at least for me, as the “ayayaya” repetition could only remind me of the “ayaya” meme.

For people’s whose brains aren’t broken by the Internet, that’s not all that odd, and it compensates for any weirdness by launching into the best chorus woo!ah! have produced yet. A funky guitar rises to prominence and the rapid fire delivery from the girls delivers an addicting melody, and though it lacks a singular standout hook, it’s a fleshed-out two-parter with the “ooh la la la” section being a nice touch. The totality of it is memorable enough to look forward to it, and the energy it’s infused with is palpable.

“Catch The Stars” is one of those songs you’ve heard many times before, and the degree to which one likes it depends on how well the central melody sells you this trip around. It should be interesting to see how it ages over the course of the year as other offerings in this mode inevitably get released, but for now it was certainly convincing to me. Not at the level where you’ll see me screaming about how it deserves to be their breakout online, but certainly this contributes nicely to their discography and it’s the most I’ve liked one of their singles at release.