Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Phew, it’s been a while. Sorta lost track of time, but I’m here now with my takes for you to complain about when you should instead be mindlessly devoted to me.
So basically, for this Rundown, if you don’t see your favorite release from the past month you should be grateful. Either you don’t have to see your most favoritist writer ever saying mean things about your faves (well, not all mean, just not glowing) or it’s going to be a part of a group of reviews later. Win-win!
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TRI.BE – “WE ARE YOUNG”
A fun, happy-go-lucky track that honestly reminds me a ton of HyunA‘s “Bubble Pop” (even has the same vocal tic) in the chorus without the “bubble bubble, pop pop” hook and instead “we are young” repetition in its place, which unfortunately isn’t anywhere near as effective.
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Brave Girls – “Goodbye”
An insulting way for Brave Girls to go out from Brave Brothers after he bragged about how much money their return to prominence made him and shit.
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The Boyz – “ROAR”
Felt like they were aiming for something sleek and sexy, but ended up with something a bit more lethargic than anything else. Not sure what it says about their recent output that despite that criticism, it’s still probably their best release for a while now.
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WOODZ – “ABYSS”
Simple guitar-heavy song that relies on the emotional heft of the lyricism and his vocal to deliver, but that doesn’t mean the song itself has to be such a drag. He’s proven in the past he can do all that while providing something musically captivating.
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J-Hope (Feat. J. Cole) – “On The Street”
An unadorned, whistle-centric track that is effective in embodying the vibe of a casual trip through the city landscape. It’s harmless background music type of stuff, even if it does get rather repetitive.
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OnlyOneOf – “Seoul Drift”
On one hand, if an NCT group released this, there would be a lot more people pretending it’s the greatest thing ever and K-pop stans just don’t get its genius. On the other hand, I personally would still say it isn’t very good, and it’s particularly grating and shouty when compared to OnlyOneOf’s unique and understated best efforts.
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CRAVITY – “Groovy”
Upbeat but not really satisfyingly groovy, and it really lacks any knockout element.
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Cherry Bullet – “P.O.W!”
Thought NewJeans had mercifully killed this kind of song off for a bit, but I guess not.
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YUJU – “Without U”
GFRIEND should reunite. I’m just saying.
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Nicole (KARA) – “Mysterious”
It has these bursts of seductive energy, especially within the chorus, and they really provide hope that the song will come into its own in the back half. However, it just kinda repeats the initial formula instead of picking up steam, and the breakdowns are ultimately what prevent this from taking off.
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KAI (EXO) – “Rover”
I have a hard time evaluating the remakes that SM Entertainment do that are similar to the original but are also not as good. “Rover” is fun enough as a dance song, but I prefer DARA‘s version as “Mr. Rover“.
