Just A Little Fangirl Love

Release date: 2026 June 17 Album tracklist: Lilac Album runtime: 3 minutes  Oh, I'm exited about this song because I adored their debut song.  More traditional Korean music taps into my love for traditional Irish music. I fully recognize that they tap into the same part of my brain, and it's fine. We've got so much melody going on in the instrumental and a range of textures because we've got a range of instrument types. Percussion, stringed, woodwind. And, delightfully, we've also got audience participation snapping. I love it when we get that as part of the instrumental. Gorgeous. They have beautiful voices. Well-supported, a little bit lower, haunting on occasion. Those are some very pretty runs and vocalizations they've got going on, and some of the vocal techniques remind me a bit of yodeling, which just delights me more. The vocal skill and control that's on display with this song is very nice. I like this a lot. I may have gotten distracted by the Cara...

Release date: 2026 May 30 Album tracklist:  Ain't No Hard Feelings Album runtime: 3 minutes  Queen BoA is in he house! I am so behind, but I'm not going to skip, especially not when this is her first release following her establishment of her own company after leaving SM. The majority of the instrumental is taken up by the beat with various instruments, but there are spots where a sort of melody brushes against it. There is a little bit of variation going on with the instruments, not as much as I'd like though. The danceability to this song is quite high though, so I'm expecting the choreography to be strong for this song. For those of you who prefer UK garage as a genre, or at least enjoy it more than I do, you may really like this song, though I'm not sure how good of a representation of that genre this is. I'm learning still. She sounds a lot like Hwasa here, and I know she's both older and senior to Hwasa, but because BoA doesn't always sound like th...

Release date: 2026 June 01 Album tracklist: Sad Girls Schemin', Peer, Baby Flower , Type of Girl, Sleek, I Like That, Me Myself Mode Album runtime: 17  minutes  Congrats on the win! The funny thing about tripleS, and I hope one of them can get the help she needs when she's ready, is that at one point, I actually could have listened to the whole group, but then the new maknae got added. We are very much on Underage Protocol now. I can still listen to some of the subunits, thought, but I have to check each one to make sure I can. I was kind of hoping that this was a subunit, but it's the whole group, so yes, we are on Underage Protocol. Underage Protocol is my small way of protesting when companies debuting minors that are under sixteen, or debuting more than half of a group underage. If a group is on Underage Protocol, I won't listen to them until the entire group is eighteen. I give the songs a single listen each for instrumental and vocals, and then two at most watches...

Release date: 2026 June 08 Album tracklist: SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA Album runtime: 3  minutes  I'm pretty sure that this is not a pre-release, but if it is, then I'll make sure to update this accordingly. We are on Underage Protocol until next February, and then I'l actually be able to dig into their discography. I've heard some things about some of their b-sides that make me think I'll really like them, but I can't until Chiquita is eighteen. Unless someone wants to drop their debut song or a b-side or two into The Form . But at least it's three minutes long, or close enough. There is some really interesting synthwork going on in the instrumental, which is a good thing because this kind of instrumental is all too easy to make entirely monotonous by relying only on the various beats in the song to support the vocals, but then not actually doing anything with the instrumental to give it a personality. Again, they didn't do that, so color me surprised but plea...

Release date: 2026 June 04 Album tracklist: Blooming (Intro), 4 Flowers ,  4 Flowers (Acoustic Remix),  4 Flowers (Latin Remix),  4 Flowers (Inst.) Album runtime: 14  minutes  I love how all of their album artwork is simple and cohesive. I really do. The albums all match for the most part and that's so satisfying. Wasn't their anniversary soon? I know I'm mixing my tenses here, but I'm not sure if their anniversary is before or after this date, so I'm just covering my bases. I'm pretty sure that this was released around then, but their anniversary is not one of the ones that I have memorized. Also, this is a three-minute song. Thank you, songwriters (including Solar and Moonbyul). Ah, we got just the instrumental. Nice. Thank you, lovelies. This is actually a very quiet song for the instrumental. I was listening to the actual track a couple of ties before I remembered there is an instrumental only track. The piano at the end in particular is lovely and delicate,...

 Hello, everyone! I'm excited for this one because it's a little bit of a departure from our regularly scheduled strictly K-Pop posts, and while I could have done Lee Chanwon given my newfound love for him, I don't need SCoups's picket to get uppity again even though he's currently not hanging on the wall. So, instead, we're going to go with Lim Young Woong, who is apparently going to do some country healing this summer with his dog. Good for him.  Lim Young Woong debuted in 2016, and, after a few variety and survival shows, became the first trot singer to get a win on a music show since Kang Jin, and in 2020 was the second most streamed artist in South Korea. Not bad for Mr. Lim. Not bad at all. Also, he has made it into the Diamond Club on Melon for more than ten billion streams, joining a single idol group with seven members that debuted in 2013 as the only other member of that club. Again, that's not bad. Well done. Lovely Touch comes off of his first a...

 THE SHOW IS BACK, BABY! MY STUBBORNNESS AND HOPE HAS BEEN REWARDED! Anyway, congrats to the artists that got their first wins for the song this week! And we ended up having two Triple Crowns and a first win for a song! It's an exciting time! I'm just delighted.  For the extras, I went with M.O.N.T in 2024 on After School Club on episode 617. I would have sworn the title track for the album was IDGAF , but instead they were promoting Honestly , which I'm not mad about, no matter how much I love IDGAF . Why? Because they showed off their harmonies and playing the instruments. Also, they're adorable and couldn't stop giggling. And because we keep having wins predominately from the Big 4, I'm going to keep adding the extra performances. This week, it was xikers on The Show . As always, the links in the spreadsheet go to my reviews of the songs, and the link down with After School Club goes to the full episode. Enjoy the stages! Show Champion: ZEROBASEONE "TOP ...

Release date: 2026 June 06 Album tracklist: If tomorrow never comes Album runtime: 2 minutes  The title of this song reminds me a lot of the Garth Brooks song by the same name. There's no way this is going to be related to that song, because there's no way I could get that lucky, so I'll strive to contain that hope so I'm not disappointed. I'm already disappointed by the two-and-a-half minute run time, so let's hope the disappointment ends there. (In case anyone cares about the hyphens I use there, I will refer you to this clip from Ever After , which is the best Cinderella movie and explains a lot about my personality). Old timey. I like it. The instrumental is also a little bit on the watery side somehow, though the maracas definitely make the song more grounded. It's a very mellow song. Even when we get what I have to assume is a dance break there at the very end and the song kind of kicks up into a little bit more energy, it doesn't increase enough t...

Release date: 2026 June 04 Album tracklist: Like a Movie Album runtime: 3 minutes  Ah, vocal kings. They're the ballaf half of the 2:00 pair of groups along with 2PM, who we know I love in this house. I also love these guys even if I don't talk about them nearly as much.  I'm about to say something, and I don't know if it's going to be a comprehensible comparison, but this instrumental sounds like Scooby Doo Goes to Hollywood, which is not something that I thought I'd ever be saying about a K-Pop song. That saxophone follows the melody of the piano so well during its break, and while we do have a saxophone playing earlier, it doesn't quite take the center stage in the instrumental until that point where before it was simply part of about five other supporting instruments undeneath the vocals. And there's a very old school Hollywood vibe to this which I appreciate as well. There's a key change. I love key changes so, so much. They're so much fun t...

Release date: 2026 June 01 Album tracklist:  IF I , ZOOM ZOOM, NALLY-NA (HYUNHAYO), DANGER Album runtime: 11 minutes  YG doesn't have the best track record of keeping older groups around and active when they debut a new one. At least with the boy groups they don't actively describe the upcoming group as "the next [insert older group that they've disbanded here]" as they famously did with a pair of their girl groups. So when I heard the announcement about the new boy group debuting this year, y'all I was stressed for Treasure. I'm pleased that they dropped the mini album and I'm also pleased that I haven't heard rumors that they'll go the way of 2NE1, which is just silly considering how much most people love seeing the senior groups interacting with the kids, especially when they're at the same company. Exhibit A: 2PM and Stray Kids. (It would be super fun to have BIGBANG do stuff with Treasure while they're prepping for their tour. Danc...

Release date: 2026 May 27 Album tracklist: ECHO , BETTER DAYS, BOYS IN THE BAND, Call it love Album runtime: 11 minutes  The stress suddenly rose up in me over the title of that mini album, so I checked and the d-word is not imminent. I don't think. Thankfully. And then I realized that I'd only read part  of the album title and felt silly. And that, everyone, is the importance of reading everything and not just assuming. And you know what I'm going to say about the runtime. So I'm just going to point it out. I had to pause it after that intro and pray that the song would live up to the absolute drama of it. I was prepared to be disappointed, and I thought I was going to be, but then that simple beat turned weird and I knew. This is amazing and dramatic and there's so much going on that even my brain with its need for interesting and varied stimulation is completely satisfied by this. What in the Backstreet Boys is this? Even the amount of repetition of the word ...

    I had this one started over a year ago and then realized the bad timing, and decided to delay it a little bit because it would have been posted during Ramadan and would have been one of the most insensitive things I could have done due to the chanted bits of the Quran which have been removed (there was one concert in 2016 where the unedited version was the one used and CL apologized, corrected the mistake by ordering that all copies of the unedited version destroyed, and that's that) . Which is why it got sent to the pile for me to forget about. I remembered about it during Ramadan again this year, which frustrated me and made me laugh because I needed to remember it during literally any other month of the year. Which is why I'm doing it now so that I don't forget about it again. I did find a version of it online that apparently is the unedited version, but we're not going to use that one. In case you were unaware, CL is the leader of the recently reformed girl grou...

Release date: 2026 May 27 Album tracklist: OASIS Album runtime: 4 minutes  He also released an OST recently, but while I'm not positive about if that's an OST or not (if I can get caught up, I'll do it) but I know I didn't do this one. So, I'm going to rectify that. Obviously. Since you're reading this. = I really should dig into his discography a bit more to see how often rock shows up. This one has a pretty sick guitar solo there, near the end, and for most of the rest of the song, it almost has a little bit of a science fiction vibe to it. It's a little bit techno in spots, but in general, it's got an earnestness to it where it goesn't quite demand attention so much as stand in the center of the room and allow others to notice it. His voice however does not. The earnestness is strong in his voice, as his vibrato is and his vibrato is loud an din charge. There's also a softness here that I really appreciate. He's really got such a nice voic...

Release date: 2026 June 08 Album tracklist:  METRONOME ; R.I.P; INFINITY; ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS; LEAN ONE Album runtime: 14 minutes  I could be more disappointed by the runtime for this album, but the title track is nearly three minutes long, so I'll accept the others. Would I prefer the other songs to also be three minutes or longer? Yes, but the title track is the important one, and if I can only have one song be the right length, then I want it to be the title track. It's got kind of that underwater synth that I so enjoy underneath a trap beat. I think. I am mildly disappointed that we didn't get an actual metronome during the song because that would have been thematically appropriate. Really dropped the ball there, and I don't care how on the nose it would have been. The instrumental gets a bit cyberpunk grungy during the dance break, whose existence I also appreciate. It's got quite a bit that it's doing, which I enjoy. I'm not overly fond of how synthe...

 This was actually the first TWICE song I liked, and I wouldn't have heard it if it hadn't been for a cupsleeve event where I live. And I figured I probably should listen to some of the songs before I went. I listened to three or four that didn't really spark my interest, pun absolutely intended, and then this one played. And I went "Oh? Okay. I've got my song." I've had a bee in my bonnet about this song for a couple of months now, ever since I saw a video compilation on YouTube about the person's worst songs from 2024. No, I will not be sharing it. Think of this as in the classic tradition of scholars responding to each other by writing their own disagreement papers, like during the Enlightenment. And also Cope and Marsh, the two paleontologists who engaged in the Bone War back in the 1800s, but a lot less vitriolic than that. No smear campaigns and no dynamite will be used. There were at least three other songs on there that also sent me into a bit ...

Release date: 2026 June 01 Album tracklist: Hit 'Em, DDI RO RI , In my hands, Favorite Song, Revenge Album runtime: 15 minutes It's amazing. I was stuck on the writing, changed the medium (studies have shown that handwriting is really good for your brain in general and specifically your memory), and boom. Writer's Block has been defeated for the moment. Anyway, as I was writing the reviews for both I.O.I and NMIXX, this music video was part of my "Watch Next" recommendations on YouTube. Since it was so eager, I'll do it next. We are still on Underage Protocol because the manager, Ella, was fifteen at debut, but she does turn eighteen at the end of this year, so they're close to coming off the list so I can go dig into their choreography like I did with NewJeans. I am three seconds into this song and I had to pause it. It's going to take a lot to put this song not on the playlist. Three seconds. That is a fantastic use of a sample. Is that right? Look ,...

Release date: 2026 May 19 Album tracklist: IOI (Where My Girls At); Suddenly ; SPF 100+ (Summer Pop Fantasy); IF I; Then, Now and Forever; Goodbye With A Smile (Recorded in 2016) (Prod.Jinyoung) Album runtime: 20 minutes  Congrats on the music show even though this is super late! I also hear this may have gotten an All Kill? Congrats for that as well. And the quality of this survival show group had so many of them end up in other groups, including the two who did not participate in the reunion and comeback. I like how pleasant this is. It's remarkably Stranger Things in terms of the instrumental, but only because it's got a bit of that 80s techno flavoring rather than it being a full dish of it, like a curry potato salad rather than a bowl of curry, if that makes sense. There's a softness to the song in some places, especially there near the end, that is quite suitable for a reunion song, and I love that there's an entire section where it's just a guitar for the ins...

Release date: 2026 May 11 Album tracklist: Crescendo , Heavy Serenade , IDERSERVEIT, Different Girl, Superior, LOUD Album runtime: 16 minutes  Wow, I could have sworn that I'd done this one. Whoops. I've also been forced to go back to writing these on paper first and then typing them up because my brain is struggling with writing anything. For a song called "Heavy Serenade", this instrumental isn't very heavy. It's got moments where the guitar is certainly active and quite grindy, but for the most part, there's a softer, floaty echo quality to the song that reminds me a bit quicksand. It's funny. This reminds me both of A Fleeting Dream from Final Fantasy X and also the sound of the Reapers from Mass Effect . It's not a combination I thought I would be hearing.  They really have such pretty voices. Also, the mix feels a bit off, like the instrumental is really overpowering compared to the vocals, especially at the end. The same sort of floaty qua...

  Hello, hello! Young groups are having their day right now, with a pair of groups getting our wins for this week, one of which is a first win for a song! Very exciting! It's been a lot of BigHit wins the last couple of months or so, but if you noticed, every single week has had at least one Big 4 win since the end of February. For the After School Club re-run, I went with EVERGLOW from 2024 in Ep. 631! There's a lot of discussion about zombies and general horror in the first part of it, which is delightful considering I'm on a horror kick right now and found a new gamer on YouTube who plays almost exclusively horror games. Well, not new. New to me. Anyway, they were cute. And kind of loud in the second part, which I enjoy for a group. For the The Show re-run, I went with BAE173 from back in 2022, and for the extra stage, I went with I.O.I on MCountdown. As always, the links in the spreadsheet go to my reviews and the link down with ASC goes to the full episode.  Show Champ...

Release date: 2026 June 08 Album tracklist: Helicopter , Helicopter (O.C remix) Album runtime: 5 minutes  What in the world? I'm reviewing a new Cross Gene song. They've been quiet for longer than I've been hoping for, but I'm certainly not going to complain about this. Happy anniversary, Cross Gene! I'm not sure how many members you have right now, but I hope everyone is healthy. Now, I'm not super familiar with Cross Gene's previous work. I'm a big fan of Black or White, but I can't say that I know their music well. We've got a bit of a skittering beat here, which, speaking from 2012 debut experience, it's not uncommon for those groups to transition into this sound at some point, but there isn't a lot of variation to the song. The dominate sound of the instrumental is the skittering beat, although there is something going on melody-wise underneath it, but it still spends the majority of the time there, which is a shame. I would expect s...

Release date: 2026 June 08 Album tracklist: 06070, VIRAL , ddok ddok ddok , ADIOS!, Upside Down, DIVE, Forever You, I Wonder Album runtime: 25 minutes  Okay, the pre-release was not my favorite, which is fine. But the title track is an entirely different song, so it's a new dawn, so to speak. There we go. This sounds like BOYNEXTDOOR. I'm good now. We've got quite a few bits of different bits of song going on here, which is fun, but the overall energy is bright and brassy, a little bit slinky, but it's got energy and texture. The electric guitar grinding through the instrumental does a lot for the song to change the dominate biome of the musical landscape, but it isn't there the entire time. In fact, that solo piano there near the end does even more, and I'm a fan of that.  This reminds me a bit of WHO YOU? by G-Dragon, especially at the beginning. It doesn't stay like that, though there are occasional moments where it goes back to that. This is a singing h...

 As I said with the BOUNCY post, I have a friend that I've been helping to introduce her students to K-Pop. BOUNCY was their favorite song for most of the year, close second being VOODOO DOLL. Now, obviously, I can't do VOODOO DOLL again, OKay is too new, and I'd already decided on doing BOUNCY for them. But! I also wanted them to decide on a song. They spent the entire year liking boy groups, and hating the girl groups generally. There were a few exceptions to that, but for the most part, they hated the girl groups. Except for this song. As I predicted, they'd already known this song, but I was not expecting them to be able to sing and dance along. But when I asked my friend to have them pick a song, I was expecting a boy group. JikJin by Treasure, Techno Love by H.O.T, Move by TNX, Gangnam Style by Psy, In Bloom by ZEROBASEONE. Even Chase Me by Dreamcatcher because they actually requested that one a bit. You know, something that they really liked consistently o...