Just A Little Fangirl Love

 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 consiste...

 Given my disposition, I'm sure you're already expecting me to ramble a bit here at the beginning to introduce everything and then get out of the way so you can get to what you and I both know is what you're interested in. I'm not going to. Instead, my thoughts will go down at the bottom, which you can read at your leisure after watching all the performances and then seeing the winners. See you then! performances ALLDAY PROJECT ATEEZ (HALA HALA (Hearts Awakened, Live Alive + Wonderland + The Real + BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS) + Phantom + In Your Fantasy ) BOYNEXTDOOR ( IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU + I FEEL GOOD + Hollywood Action ) THE BOYZ ( Stylish + You and I) CRAVITY (SWISH + Lemonade Fever ) FIFTY FIFTY (Pookie + Eeny Meeny Miny Moe ) INI (DOMINANCE (Korean Ver.)) KiiiKiii ( I DO ME (KGMA Ver.) Lee Chanwon (I Told You + Maybe Today ) MEOVV (BODY + BURNING UP + HANDS UP ) Park Seo Jin (Clown) Woodz ( Drowning + I'll Never Love Again ) Xdinary Heroes (ICU) xikers...

Release date: 2025 November 04 Album tracklist: 가위바위보 Eeny meeny miny moe , Skittlez,  가위바위보 Eeny meeny miny moe (Eng. ver) Album runtime: 8 minutes I missed a title track back in April. Oops. My apologies to the fans and the group. But, here we are with a cute little single that is a bit too short (technically it's under 8 minutes, but it's close enough that I was okay with rounding up to 8). I'm curious about the title and what kind of song we'll be getting. I'm also Skittlez , but I'll take a listen after I'm done with this. I assume that techno witch is a genre of music somewhere, or at least it is in vibes, because that’s what this song is. There’s an edge to it that keeps the whimsical bits to it from making the song too soft and floaty. Personally, I’m really glad that we’re moving on from that sound in the title tracks, but I digress. I really love the phone button pushing because it catapults me back to when I was young and the handheld receivers. T...

Release date: 2025 April 29 Album tracklist: Pookie, ADONIS, Work of Art, Perfect Crime , Heartbreak, Midnight Special Album runtime: 17 minutes  I believe that this is a pre-release for the group because Spotify gave me a notification that the countdown for the album had begun. Which was amusing, but I've also got a suspicion that this one might get a win on a music show. Haven't heard it yet. But I've got a feeling that the possibility is there. If I'm right, I'm going to be rather excited for the group which is the Ship of Theseus. If I'm wrong, well, they have a title track coming out as well soon, so that can be another attempt by the fans. I understand things might be a little shaky, but I hope the seas continue to soothe as equilibrium is achieved once again. Okay, if you give me a song with the title "Perfect Crime", I expect an edge. I expect teeth. I expect either cold, calculating surgical precision or bold, unhinged chaos to the point where...

Release date: 2024 December 09 Album tracklist:  When You Say My Name , Naughty or Nice Album runtime: 6 minutes  The Ship of Theseus has returned to port for a brief time for a seasonal celebration before heading back out to sea. 'Tis the season, everyone. Let's see what the offering from them is. I know there are people out there who don't like ballads. And that's fine. But I think I'm building a mental stock of the ballads to support me when the songs start straying into places I'm not particularly fond of. In this case, I genuinely don't think you can go wrong with the piano/strings combo. It's a one-two punch, except it's more of a caress with a soft smile. There's nothing here to distract from the vocals, although the rhythm of the instrumentals does go at odds with the members' voices in places.  Flex those pipes, girls! Flex them! Ship of Theseus this may be, but the new parts are not temporary replacement parts. They're the kinds...

  Release date: 2024 September 20 Album tracklist: Push Your Love,  Starry Night , Starry Night - [ENG version],  SOS , SOS - [ENG version], Gravity Album runtime: 18 minutes This was a surprise, but one I'm okay with. I guess the fans love this song so much that the company did a music video for it. That honestly bodes well for the group. You know, I can see why. The grinding synth is a really good counterpoint for their voices and the frequency with which the instrumentals drop away to properly showcase their voices is more than I would have expected, but the real highlight is the bridge. We get quiet, but then we get strong, pounding bursts that launch the song forward to the end. That bridge transforms this song, I swear. It's so amazing. Their voices are genuinely lovely, and I am here for this. I hope this one was a strong contender for the title track, because, ignoring the fact that I like the song better than either of the other two, they simply sound good singi...

  Release date: 2024 September 20 Album tracklist: Push Your Love,  Starry Night , Starry Night - [ENG version],  SOS , SOS - [ENG version], Gravity Album runtime: 18 minutes And here the group has re-debuted. Theseus's ship has sailed once more. The company had better know that there are going to be eyes on them and this group. I, personally, don't want to witness another B.A.P situation, so hopefully that's not what's going on. It almost sounds like there's a plucked cello in the instrumentals. It's very subtle, very soft, but I don't know if it's a plucked bass guitar or a cello. I'm going to go with a bass guitar because the likelihood of that actually being a cello is probably low. It's the most intriguing part of the instrumentals, as the rest of it feels a little standard. Not that I don't like it. This doesn't need to be a cinematic soundtrack with twenty different tracks layered together, because that's not what kind of song ...

Release date: 2024 September 20 Album tracklist: Push Your Love, Starry Night , Starry Night - [ENG version], SOS , SOS - [ENG version], Gravity Album runtime: 18 minutes I think I've figured out how I'm going to deal with pre-releases for my reviews. It does involve me updating them post-album drop, but that is the best way for me to keep things straight. Also, I'm endlessly entertained by the fact that there isn't a single way to mark different versions of the same song. I had a moment where I was annoyed by this, but then I decided to just enjoy that I don't have to type out the same thing every single time I run into albums like this. At least they usually stay consistent within the album itself. I thank them for that. I also don't know how I feel about FIFTY FIFTY's situation. Obviously it's a mess, what with the lineup changes and the legal battle, but I also kind of feel like the group called FIFTY FIFTY is actually the ship of Theseus. 24K saw an...