Song Review:: ZEROBASEONE: NEVER SAY NEVER- SLAM DUNK {Pre-Release}

• Release date: 2025 September 01

• Album tracklist: ICONIK, SLAM DUNK, Lovesick Game, Goosebumps, Dumb, NOW OR NEVER (Korean ver.), EXTRA, Long Way Back, Star Eyes, I KNow U Know

• Album runtime: 32 minutes

 I love looking at the timing of album releases, and their pre-releases, because you can obviously tell when something is released because of a certain other thing that is also happening around that same time. It just makes me laugh a little. But I do have to say that they've been remarkably active, even in the less than a year since I started writing these reviews. With their contracts only being two-and-a-half years long, on top of being one of MNET's beloved project groups, it makes sense that they've been so active. Good for the fans, potentially exhausting for the group.

So, I don't know if this is the result of me being the demographic I am, but literally every time we get one of these sports-type songs, my brain immediately flashes back to High School Musical (fun fact: one of my friends had a poster of Cordin Bleu in her gym locker). And even if it's not a song I probably would normally like, I think I just automatically like it by association. This one is actually surprisingly minimalistic, with at most two, maybe three instruments happening at a time, but most of the time, it's two. The point where this song definitely stands out from other members of the genre is we get shoe squeaking through most of it, the introduction sounds like something sampled from an actual basketball game with a ref and whistles, and the sound of a ball bouncing. I really appreciate the integration of the basketball sounds into the song. We also get a delightful cowbell, and I'm kind of fascinated by how often we get that specific instrument in K-Pop.

I don't actually like this style of song for a couple of reasons, but it's very effective at doing what it says on the tin. The "keep your head in the game" doesn't help with my associations with High School Musical either, but that can't be helped probably. But there is something interesting about the singing parts, not including the ad-libs, specifically the "Three, two, one" part. It reminds me of Abracadabra by Brown Eyed Girls. That's not a combination I thought I'd be hearing or saying, but it works. It's a well-textured song that has the vocals supported, but not overpowered, which is exactly what I want.

The choreography is exactly as fun as I was hoping it would be. Excellent. There's also a bit of a storyline underneath the sports metaphor, so I am also all about that. It's also just fun, you know? And we need fun.