Song Review:: BABYMONSTER: HOT SAUCE {Pre-Release}

• Release date: 2025 July 1

• Album tracklist: HOT SAUCE

• Album runtime: 2 minutes

 The number of groups that I can't do anything with because they debuted fourteen-year-olds is unsettling, especially since a bunch of those fourteen-year-olds are now sixteen and I have to actively remember when they debuted so I don't forget they debuted as fourteen-year-olds. Ignoring how much better they'd be if they'd gotten more time to physically mature before debut, I fully anticipate this group dominating the charts in a few years, if YGE can get their act together and actually invest and reliably promote the group unlike Treasure, and also make sure that they get regular group releases unlike BLACKPINK. Gold star for squandering the talents they've got. A+.

The brass instrumen gives the song a strong vibe. I'm getting some similar vibes to a few NCT songs, so that's a little bit of a delightful thing. I'm also pleased tht despite the very short runtime, e've got  song that has more variation than expected. I'm not chuffed, because I don't think there's enough variation, or at least that it's not strong enough. It's not in a style or genre that I typically really like, but despite that, it feels wonderfully solid. And the addition of that little slowdown and softness? Texturally, I really appreciate it, and also because of what it allows the vocalists to do. But, the song is very saturated, so I'm not too overly bothered.

This is very "YG girl group." It's got a lot of the markers and traits I associate with both 2NE1 and BLACKPINK, and is intensely well-supported, no matter what they're doing. I appreciate that in title tracks, because it makes it easier on them to do extensive choreography. Even though the song is predominately rap (which is fine, just not my preferred genre of music), but it's so stable and it feels so good that I don't care as much as I normally would. Plus, the vocals are just so solid, and that's exactly what I look for, so we're continuing the trend of "if I could recreationally listen to them, I'd likely have more than a few of their b-sides added to my regularly listening playlists." As it currently stands, I have two more years to wait before I can do that. Still, they've been displaying pretty good versatility, espexially as young as they are, but that's what you get when you have members who spend a minimum of two years training. Again, imagine what they could have been with more physical maturity to their voices. 

Okay, well, the choreography is adorable and I kind of love it. Although this is much more of a performance video than a music video. Which is fine.