Just A Little Fangirl Love

Release date: 2025 August 1 Album tracklist:  ICONIC Album runtime: 3 minutes  Is this their first single? Ooh, this is exciting. And I know I'm super late with them, but I've also been avoiding listening to it until now because I wanted it to be fresh for when I did the review, and I was in LA when this dropped and didn't have a lot of time or energy to review much at the time. But, here we are with my first rookie group! (Not my first group I was there for their debut, that was RIIZE.) One day, we'll get a win for them. One day. Hopefully soon. Also, this has a perfect runtime.  The beginning part of this hilariously sounds like the very beginning of Your Idol , just after the chanting. I doubt there's any way the two are connected, but I just think that's kind of funny considering ATEEZ are basically the Saja Boys in real life . The song has a good, strong beat to it, and there are fun little quirks that pop in for emphasis occasionally. But do you hear that ...

Release date: 2025 April 04 Album track list: You Hide We Seek, BREATHE , HIGHWAY, Roller Coaster, Rock Your Body Album runtime: 15 mi nutes  I don't care that I'm doing this ridiculously out of order according to my draft list. When xikers releases a new song, everything else gets put on hold. Also, I'm about to be in all caps for a moment out of my excitement for this because I came in shortly after the release of their second mini album, I've never had an OT10 comeback. AND JUNGHOON IS BACK, BABY! The kids are a complete group again! I may have wanted them to get their first win with Witch  because that song is brilliant, but the storyteller in me also didn't want it then because they weren't complete again yet. Now, they are, and it would be so narratively satisfying for the story of the group to get that first win now. And I'm pleased with the runtime. They're really going hard with the horror instrumentals right now, aren't they? This is like a...

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...

 October is my Spookening month, my favorite month of the year. It also marks the anniversary of my first K-Pop performance that I saw! Thank you for coming, NINE.i! Also, once more, I want to thank you all for reading any of the reviews thus far. You are all lovely and amazing, and I hope you always have a cool side to your pillow.  I'm also already seeing the personal benefits of doing this, namely how distracted I am from the recent enlistments and the upcoming ones across groups. There is a lot to be doing, and a lot to be paying attention to. So, let's get to it! Starting off with my space to be indulgent and a fan, as I sit here sipping from my Seventeen tumbler and wearing a NU'EST shirt, there were some releases that I've been looking forward to for months, one that might qualify as a historic occasion, and some that definitely piqued my interest more than others. Google already thinks I'm obsessed with only G-Dragon. There is only G-Dragon. (I have exactly ...

 I love Halloween. It's been my favorite holiday for literally my entire life. I have loved Halloween longer than Sangyeon of The Boyz has been alive, barely because my first Halloween was a couple of days before he was born, but according to my mother, even at the age of not-quite one years old, I have loved it. She dressed me up as a San Francisco 49ers cheerleader. I have pictures.  One of the most important things, then, is finding music that matches the Month of Spookening and horror. I love spooky movies. I love spooky books. I love spooky video games (even though I am a wuss of the nth degree and prefer to watch other people play them). And I love spooky music. THUS, this post is simply going to be a compilation of some of the songs I've added to my Halloween K-Pop playlist. If I were to add all of the songs in there, this post would be ages  long. So I'm only going to add as many as I feel like it. I don't know how long this is going to be. But there will be vib...

  Release date: 2024 August 06 Album tracklist: Tsuki (Lunatic) , Cool, Are you serious?, Tsuki (Lunatic) - Instrumental, Cool - Instrumental, Are you serious? - Instrumental Album runtime: 20 minutes Look, I know I said that I was only going to think about doing a review on this song because it's in Japanese and not Korean, and I'm not well-versed enough to know the difference with if this is actually considered K-Pop when it's not in Korean. They are a K-Pop group...I don't know. Whatever. It's xikers, and I do actually love them. They need the attention. Plus, this was the first title track that I didn't immediately feel a little disappointed by! I actually like all three tracks here (unequally), which makes me laugh a little. I'm not head over heels in love, but the fact that it's their Japanese tracks that make me go "Yes, please," is a little ridiculous to my own mind. Much like with TVXQ! for some reason. I like their Japanese releases ...

 The official start of this little music review blog! I'm proud of it. And, again, thank you for everyone who has read even a single post so far, even if you aren't reading this one. I am simply happy and grateful and will endeavor to continue this honesty with love and recognition of the hard work of the artists. And for the one person who seems to be reading every single one, thank you and I love you. You make my morning every day. September of 2024 saw a couple of debuts, a re-debut, and some comebacks I was very much looking forward to, as well as some I would have been looking forward to had I been listening to the group/artist already. The ones I personally was emotionally invested are as follows: Vahn (NINE.i): They were the first group I saw in person, and the reason I watched Boy's Planet, after the fact of course because I didn't get into K-Pop until after ZB1 had already debuted. I love their voices, and I have yet to run into a song I didn't like by them...

Release date: 2024 September 06 Album tracklist: Watch Out,  Witch , BACK OFF,  Bittersweet , Sandcastle , Hang Around Album runtime: 17 minutes I was holding out on my decision for my favorite track of the album until this video came out. Witch  might be my favorite title track so far, and I love it so much , but there are actually two tracks from Watch Out that I love more: Bittersweet  and Sandcastle . Two very different songs, I know, but they just hit my brain in the exact, right way. But, it bears repeating that the entire album is no-skip for me. Whole thing. Fabulous. Do I love that the two spookiest songs were chosen for the title tracks? Abso-freaking-lutely. Give me more spooky songs from kpop. Coincidentally, this is also why I love Monster  by Seventeen's hip hop unit, and the sole reason why I now like the obviously rap heavy songs they do. I find it a little funny that it required me to see them perform it before I liked it. Much like with xikers!...

 This is going to be the least filled out of these. In the future, I'll be more on top of releases, but considering I started this near the end of the month, I'm going to give myself a pass. Top Releases of the Month : Moonbyul's Is This Love? - I'm really not joking when I say that if this song isn't one of my top listens of the year, I'm going to be really sad. It's basically perfect and...I want more of this. Give me more interesting musical techniques, I beg of the industry. B.A.P's Gone - I just want to wrap myself up in the song and pretend like everything is okay. Is it? I don't know, but what I do know is the fact that they managed to come back together after all the trauma they went through together, even if they aren't fully back together yet, gives me hope for all the groups that didn't deserve what happened to them (and the handful of my small groups that are struggling right now). Honorable Mentions : xikers's Tsuki (Lunatic)...

  Release date: 2024 September 06 Album tracklist: Watch Out, Witch , BACK OFF, Bittersweet , Sandcastle , Hang Around Album runtime: 17 minutes Xikers were one of my starting points, as they were the first kpop group I chose to go see. Most of my starting points have been with March debuts. I don't know how I manage it. Despite the fact that their music isn't what I would normally choose to listen to, they caught me as a fan because of how insane their stage presence is. Normally, I avoid the comeback stages, but I can't with xikers. Y'all, I think they may have a stronger stage presence than ATEEZ, whom I've also seen in concert and generally love more, despite the years of experience between them. I walked out of xikers's concert going "I would see them again tomorrow." And now we have a new comeback, still missing OT10 for the third one in a row, but I'm sure KQ is making sure that Junghoon is healthy enough to handle their insane choreography....