Just A Little Fangirl Love

  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 November 11 Album tracklist: Goodbye Album runtime: 3 minutes  I'm very excited for the amount of singles and albums he's been putting out since September. With this one, that puts it at an album with two music videos and two singles. Which is more than some groups put out in a year I admire the work ethic and love of music, but I'm also starting to get a little worried for him. How long has he been sitting on these songs, and can he maintain the release momentum without burning out?  The combination of the percussion and the high-pitched piano-like music gives the song unexpected depth and a dreamy quality. It also reminds me of 1940s jazz. I know it isn't jazz, because it doesn't have any of the correct characteristics, but because of the effects at the beginning, the production reminds me of the age, and the popular music at the time was often jazz or jazz-adjacent. The instrumentals are pretty stripped down, consisting primarily of a, dare I s...

Release date: 2024 September 06 Album tracklist: Watch Out,  Witch , BACK OFF,  Bittersweet , Sandcastle , Hang Around Album runtime: 17 minutes  Did my favorite track from the album get a video? Yes, indeed it did, which means it qualifies for a review. Also, I apparently decided on this one as my favorite right at the moment of writing this, so yay, me? But mostly yay, roadys! In the world of xikers's discography, a mellow instrumental track is a rare thing, which makes it all the more precious. The thumping of the drums is notable during the chorus and the refrain especially, because of their prominence. Even though there is percussion in other sections, the drums here go hard and there's very little else happening in the instrumentals to take away from that sound, as well as their voices. It's a xikers song so it can't be completely mellow (at least not yet, I'm waiting for a ballad), but it's mellow enough that this is their hug song. In light of the fact t...

Release date: 2024 September 14 Album tracklist: Sweet! (feat. Lina Cooper and Joohyoung),  Feeling (feat. BLKZEN) , Seasons (feat. Alina Kay), Tonight, Sucker for You (feat. BLKZEN and laebin), Feeling (Inst.), Sweet! (Inst.) Album runtime: 22 minutes  He has been a busy bee the last month or so. My goodness. First, he debuted as a soloist. Then he dropped a single , which I thought would be the extent of the business for a minute. A minute was about all he gave us before he delivered this! One of those second title track things! And now I'm starting to wonder how soon we'll get a full group something. One of the members is participating in the survival show Starlight Boys , so unless they do it without him, it won't be until after that's finished. I'm also now wondering if I should expect another single in the next couple of weeks, which, for the record, I am completely down for. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm of the opinion that Vahn is a huge fan ...

  Release date: 2024 September 30 Album tracklist: NEMONEMO , Sugar, It was love Album runtime: 9 minutes This was my random-selection-on-the-comeback-schedule for a review. Could I have chosen an October release? Yes. Did I? Obviously not, but I figure I might have other days where they're slow, and I can randomly select from October releases then. She appears to be a soloist.  This is so incredibly J-Pop sounding. I don't realize how much I actually like that style until I hear it again. Obviously stems from my years of watching anime. I didn't watch a lot of different anime, for the record, but I did rewatch a lot of anime. So this sound sends me straight back to middle and high school. Alternatively, this could come straight out of some very specific Japanese video games. We've got a very funky sound with the synths and crashing cymbals. I have yet to spell that correctly on the first try. But there's a very, very specific sequence of beeps at the beginning and ...

Release date: 2024 September 28 Album tracklist: Just Better , Just Better (Inst.) Album runtime: 6 minutes  We got two singles this month! I put off doing this review because the last time I did one, I got the Jeonghan news. I'm aware that I was subconsciously trying to avoid the risk of more bad news because I absolutely am superstitious, but I attribute at least part of that to the fact that I've been an athlete since I was five and almost every athlete I've ever known has been weirdly superstitious. Except Jack. He didn't have any weird, little rituals. But, this is A.C.E. They have incredible voices and they deserve so much more recognition than they have. So here I am. And this is an English track! Not only is this an English track, but it reminds me of Avril Lavigne, specifically of Girlfriend  and Sk8er Boi . Just Better is a less aggressive version of that. I'm also hearing strong shades of Teenage Dirtbag  and I'm Just a Kid  in the instrumentals, so i...

Release date: 2024 September 30 Album tracklist:  Rush of Joy , Play Album runtime: 6 minutes  The best part of doing this is getting to know a little bit groups that I previously knew only by name. WHIB could have, for all I know, debuted twenty years ago or at the beginning of 2024. I have no idea. I'm pretty sure they're a boy group, but I'm not positive, so this should be interesting. That runtime was also rounded up to the six minutes. Ah, boy group that seems to have debuted last year. Nice. I'm noticing a trend with a lot of the recent debuts, and this may be what sets fifth generation apart from fourth because I was very much struggling to differentiate the two, and other recent releases, that there seems to be a heavy disco influence and the guitar becoming more prevalent. I'm also hearing a lot of happy songs, but the ones who are debuting now, likely became trainees during the pandemic, or were trainees through the pandemic which is different in many ways...

Release date: 2024 September 30 Album tracklist: Revolver, Automatic , New Heights, Blossom, Xcellerate, Be Together Album runtime: 18 minutes   One of the things I like least about K-Pop is finding out how tragic the stories of some of these groups are. As much as I like other aspects, those tragedies remind me of why I decided not to stick it out as a sociology major in college.  Such is the case with VANNER, an idol group that had to work normal jobs to be able to afford to be an idol group with a CEO who also had to work a normal job to be able to afford doing anything with said idol group. And then they barely had time to be an idol group. The pandemic hit them hard. But they didn't give up. Oof. Anyway. Automatic starts off reminding me of an old radio broadcast. I know that technically that would be part of the vocals, but I'm putting it here because that wouldn't necessarily be something that would have to be performed if performed live. That could be part of a bac...

  Release date: 2024 September 28 Album tracklist: Carry on Album runtime: 3 minutes I like that ASTRO has become somewhat active recently. Not as a group, necessarily, but they're doing music related stuff and I love that for them. Oh! I see his name under composer, arranger, and lyricist. Well done, JinJin! Ooh, that's a funky guitar going on there. The guitars in general seem to be hanging out in place of pride through out the entire song, which I am so into, and they never lose their funk. There are moments when they take a brief break, moments which include a siren of all things, but otherwise, they just are perfectly there. They give the entire song a very disco air.  JinJin in this song reminds me of the two songs I've heard from RM. It's a very mellow, but no less powerful, rap that does the impossible: quiets my brain. I have not a clue what he's saying. Zero clue, except for the English during the refrain that is at his chillest, but that doesn't matte...

  Release date: 2024 September 26 Album tracklist: Retro Romance Album runtime: 2 minutes Girl's Generation make you feel the heat! Sorry.  Every time I think about the group or hear/read the name mentioned anyway, that's what immediately and inevitably pops into my head, regardless of the circumstances. I feel like I know quite a bit about them and can quote some of their moments without actually knowing anything about them, so it's a very strange situation for me. And Hyo is not one of the members whose name I knew coming in to this review, This song reminds me a lot of the little bit of the group's songs that I've heard, but it also reminds me of later S.E.S. songs. I wouldn't call the 2000s retro because they weren't that long ago, but there is also a light 70's disco vibe to it that pops in occasionally, and that I'd call retro because it's half a century ago. Give or take. But it does sound very 2000s because of...well, something I noticed ...

  Release date: 2024 September 29 Album tracklist: Daydream (Feat. JUNNY), Stuck On You Album runtime: 5 minutes Am I a little peeved that we got three days' notice of this thing's existence before it was released? Yes. Is that just what BTOB does these days apparently? Also, yes. It's fine. It's all fine. It's not going to affect my anticipated enjoyment of it. Also, I'm side-eyeing that runtime. That cover art is flipping adorable. Anyway. Continue. There's a really cute part of the instrumentals during the chorus. On the words "find me in a daydream", instead of maintaining the rhythm that the guitar has been plinking out, it follows the rhythm of the words. I think it happens a little earlier in the chorus as well, during the "rhyming" section (it sounds like it's a six line chorus, so lines 3 and 6, even though the lines don't rhyme in the traditional sense with the words but they do with rhythm and syllables). I love the pr...

Release date: 2024 September 27 Album tracklist: Focus, Tomorrow, Beautiful Night(AC Ver), Focus (Instrumental), Tomorrow (Instrumental), Beautiful Night(AC Ver) (Instrumental) Album runtime: 3 minutes  A new, three-member girl group has arrived! I think there's some history there, but honestly, I have no idea what it would be. There was a twitter post that mentioned something, if you're curious. But, they're all adults! The youngest one is 23 and a model, and the oldest one is also a member of the group Rumble-G (which is now a duo) and is the first Burmese artist to debut in South Korea. The middle member has the same birthday as NU'EST (March 15th) and, like the maknae, is a model. So, let's get to it! There is a lot happening in the instrumentals. It has moments where it quiets, but for the most part, it's a wall of sound that is a little distracting from the vocals. But there are some seriously interesting things happening in the instrumentals that make me ...

Release date: 2024 September 25 Album tracklist:  Go High,  Break, Run Away, Only You, Eau De Perfume, Plausible Theory Album runtime: 18 minutes  Whatever else can be said about Super Junior, I really appreciate that they took NU'EST under their wing like SHINee took Seventeen. Which is funny to me because the numbers are reversed here. With the older groups, it was big numbers adopting small numbers, and with the younger groups, it's small numbers adopting big numbers. But, because of that, regardless of anything else, I think of Super Junior fondly. Plus, I will almost always support older groups having comebacks. Was I expecting it to be all rap? Nope. Do I like rap yet? Not in general. But I can adjust to that. This is going to be a weird music video. I can sense it in my bones just from the instrumentals. Whoever were the producers did an excellent job of making that sound like they're singing in an active construction zone, while simultaneously being on a space shi...

Release date: 2024 September 26 Album tracklist:  POP UP, Morse Code, Ouroboros, Traffic Jam, Pity Punk Album runtime: 17 minutes  Okay. So this is a re-debut of a rock band which was formerly under the name "Saehamano". Possibly? I barely understand how kpop group debuts work, and bands baffle me. Still, they're all adults, and they get their name from the fact that they have three horses and a dragon in the band, which frankly is adorably sentimental. And they just debuted. So, here we go. The opening electric riffs sent me to a happy place emotionally. It reminds me really strongly of an AC/DC or Eric Clapton or a Bachman-Turner Overdrive song. There's something that all of those groups have in common and yes, it reminds me of the soundtrack to A Knight's Tale , which is one of my favorite movies and there for a while, a candidate for my favorite movie before Jurassic Park  came back on top and settled in. It hasn't moved. So the fact that this song opening...

Release date: 2024 September 25 Album tracklist: OUR DAYS,  FOREVER YOUNG, BETTER WITH YOU, LEAN ON ME, MAGIC Album runtime: 16 minutes Those are so many capital letters and I really feel like I'm shouting at you all. I'd like to apologize for that. Also, that runtime means that the average song length is a bit over three minutes, which is excellent. I'm pretty sure XODIAC is a boy group, and for some reason, I have green associated with them. It's not NCT green; it's more of a dark lime. I get the feeling that this is more of a xikers sounding group than a TWS sounding group, and one of those two I generally like a lot better than the others, but we'll see. I was very wrong.  So there's something very interesting happening in otherwise pretty standard instrumentals. Normally, I would expect for the rapping sections to have that extra burst of energy by adding more instrumental tracks, though there are exceptions to this as is evident by the fact that I just...

  Release date: 2024 September 24 Album tracklist: Why so pretty? , Why so pretty? (Inst.) Album runtime: 7 minutes I didn't know this was happening! I'm excited about this. So the song starts with a very playful organ, and then snapping. The snapping makes me so happy, because it's one of those things I can just do without having to pay much attention to the song, and since I spend a lot of time just vibing and not actively listening to the music I'm listening to, . It's also very upbeat and funky, though very minimalistic compared to what it could be. I'm not hearing much bass, if any, but there are enough interesting things and instruments happening that I can forgive it for not having that grounding sound. The fact that he included the instrumental track on this single brings me joy, because the instrumental, despite being surprisingly minimalistic, is definitely vibe-worthy. Actually, this reminds me of a musical, where this is the male lead taking a song t...

  Release date: 2024 September 24 Album tracklist: Steady , 3 Minutes , Dunk Shot , On & On, Supercute, Skate, Hands Up - Korean Version Album runtime: 21 minutes I've been looking forward to the album because of how much I liked Dunk Shot . I'll have to do a review of 3 Minutes  as well, but that will be for when I have a moment and the releases cool down a little. In the meantime, let's see about this one! Oh, it's so cute! I know I normally do the instrumentals and stuff in this paragraph, but I got so distracted immediately from how cute they sound that I think my cuteness aggression got triggered. They're not the only boy group to recently debut that I've thought were cute, but this is the first one that actually made me start to laugh at my reaction. And, generally speaking, I think TWS are some of the cutest to recently debut, but I never kicked my feet for TWS. And yet, this song made me do just that. I don't know how I'm going to recover fro...

  Release date: 2024 September 23 Album tracklist: Pleasure Shop , Overthink, Golden, I Know, Going Up, Novacaine Album runtime: 18 minutes Happy birthday even though this is a couple of days late! And not that I dislike all the capital letters, it just makes me feel like I'm shouting when I type them out unless they're an acronym, so the lack here? Thank you, Key. Ah, thumping EDM. How I've missed you! When did I decide I like that sound? I have no idea. The song doesn't start off with energy. We get a few lines and bars of chill and soothing with only synth and the cymbal before the drums start in, which is echoed later during the bridge. I do wish there was more of a bass to really grind everything else into, but I'm pretty clear with my love for a good bass. Even without it, though, I really enjoy the vibes of the song.  Key has a lovely voice. All of SHINee does, which is why the group itself is so impressive. But can we take a minute to talk about how catchy t...

  Release date: 2024 September 23 Album tracklist: INTRO, Fake Idol , My Name is Malgeum , Let's Love, run! run! run!, Goodbye My Sadness, REBOUND, OUTRO Album runtime: 22 minutes Apparently Fake Idol was a pre-release and My Name is Malgeum  is the main event. Good to know. So part of me thinks the instrumentals sound like an anime theme song. And it would be for one that is kind of depressing, but has that super upbeat introduction to make you forget your heart is about to be ripped out of your chest. It also reminds me a lot, weirdly, of a game show. So that's a weird combination. I think it's the chord progression and the specific combination of piano and guitar that makes me think of anime theme song and game show. I'm fully into it. This is pretty awesome. I don't necessarily know that I have a lot to say about their vocals. I really like the tone they've got, which seems to be "ready to belt at any given notice", which matches the anime theme th...

  Release date: 2024 September 23 Album tracklist: Losing Myself, Get Loose, Electric Shock , Come Back to Me (feat. CHUNG HA), 9 Lives Album runtime: 15 minutes I am mostly familiar with Kang Daniel because of Produce 101, but I expect a lot from him because the quality of the Wanna One members demands that. I understand he's also been going through some legal problems, so finding out he was putting out a new album made me pleased and surprised. I wish him well. Hello, piano! That's fun and spritely! I haven't looked at the lyrics yet, but for some reason, I have a feeling that this is one of those cheerful sounding songs that have kind of depressing lyrics. Actually, the instrumentals remind me of a musical. It's probably the piano doing the frequent arpeggio that sounds like rain falling. There's also a sense of drama during the chorus, something that I deeply appreciate. He didn't just give it a tone shift, he added more bombastic layers to drive energy forw...