Just A Little Fangirl Love

Release date: 2026 October 14 Album tracklist: DON'T FORGET Album runtime: 3 minutes  The ZEROBASEONE members have been busy. One has debuted as a soloist now, and I find out out that Jiwoong was part of a group and debuted as a soloist before ZEROBASEONE. The more you know. I may need to take a look at his group to see if there's a song that catches my fancy for an Expanded Offerings post. But he also dropped a digital single, which was a surprise when YouTube gave me his music video as a suggested video. That's a lot of guitar there, so much so that it's a little bit too much for his voice, that or the balance is really off. It's a shame because I really like what's going on with the guitar in the instrumental. It's spunky and spicy and sassy with a lot of dramatic tossing its head. But it's a bit too much for how soft his voice gets in spots. And there's even a guitar solo. Is that a vibrato I hear? Jiwoong, I wasn't aware of this. I also have...

Release date: 2026 October 12 Album tracklist: Killin' Me, UNDEAD , Insidious, 3AM, Bloody Gravity, Other Side, Our Light, Steal the Thunder Album runtime: 21 minutes  I'm going to be completely honest here. I forgot he was debuting as a soloist. Luckily, YouTube and the algorithm I have built brick by brick have my back and when I tried to go to bed last night with my Resident Evil Let's Play I've been watching to go to sleep to (it's actually the  Resident Evil 2  remake, but I'm not going to quibble too much), one of my recommended videos was his debut music video. So, here we are. I am loving the titles of these songs though. I'm sensing some spookiness here and I am here for this. Yes. Oh, you want me to actually say more about this. Fine. The instrumental feels like a slightly more rock version of Thriller  by Michael Jackson and Back In Time by Huey Lewis & The News. It's zombie party eighties rock with a dose of the modern flare. I'm alr...

 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 May 18 Album tracklist: Intro., TOP 5 , V for Vision, Customize, Exotic, Changes, Zero to Hundred Album runtime: 19 minutes   This is their first release after the contracts ended for some of them and we now have the new version of ZEROBASEONE. It’s not going to be fun for them to have to rearrange all of their songs for choreography and singing, but unlikely many of their MNET survival show group seniors, they didn’t disband by the end of their initial contract period, so we’re in a little bit of an unfamiliar territory with them in some ways. And I'm appalled at the title track run time. It's barely longer than the intro song. The instrumental is largely a collection of beats. We occasionally get an instrument that gives a little bit of a melody, but it’s not the basis of the instrumental. Which is fine. This feels a little 90s boy group in spots, and I’m cool with that, but I’m not currently over inspired about this instrumental, other than to note that we...

Release date: 2026 February 02 Album track list: Running to Future , Roses , LOVEPOCALYPSE Album runtime: 8 mi nutes  Well, if that isn't one of the sappiest titles I've seen in a while, I don't know what is. Genuinely. It still remains to be seen what kind of song, and this album will be for the group, but until we get some definitive answers, this song is kind of in a limbo state and very much feels like a trio of farewell songs. I haven't heard this one yet, but the brief descriptions I've gotten of it, I'd call this a farewell trio. The majority of the song has a skittering trap beat laid beneath some much need science fiction warbles. That being said, this song also is not one that is particularly energetic. It's not particularly weighty, which is something that I would have expected so the fact that I'm not getting that is surprising. Not that this is an overly sappy sounding song, but it's also not particularly dramatic. The instrumental is in...

Release date: 2026 February 02 Album track list:  Running to Future , Roses,  LOVEPOCALYPSE Album runtime: 8 mi nutes  Two minute song, everyone. You'd think that if there was a possibility that the group might not survive through negotiations that the company would give them songs of a reasonable length, which two minutes is not. Still, this is the second of the pre-releases for this album. The first was quite emotional, so I'm curious about what this one will be like. There have been so many rock songs lately. This one is on the funkier side of things, but I'd still put it in that category. I'm not going to lie, I am struggling with this song for some reason, and I'm not sure if it's me rebelling against the fact that they're in contract negotiations and it's looking like four of them may not continue with the group if the others do, or if the song just isn't holding my attention for some other reason. I suspect it may be the former because there a...

Release date: 2026 February 02 Album track list:  Running to Future,  Roses ,  LOVEPOCALYPSE Album runtime: 8 mi nutes  The group is in a weird sort of limbo right now, where their original contracts are technically up and they're on an extension of sorts. I want the members to make the best choices for the group and for themselves, and I hope the various companies involved put the members first and foremost in the negotiations. Ah, this is appropriate for the context around this song while simultaneously being pretty true to ZEROBASEONE's sound. It's got really good energy, and the danceability of this song is really high. I'm looking forward to seeing how beautiful this choreography is, because anything less and it's not worthy of this instrumental. It's a difficult balance to achieve, what with how soft the energy is and how smooth it is. It's not necessarily heartbreaking, but the softness lends a level of bittersweetness to the song that I love. This is...

 Okie dokie, everyone! My thoughts on things will be down at the bottom, instead of giving a long and verbose introduction, because we all know that what you're here for is actually the performances and the winners. Anything I have to say is a bonus, you know? The artists are the focus here. performances aespa ( Dirty Work + Rich Man ) ALLDAY PROJECT ( FAMOUS ) CORTIS ( GO! + FaSHioN ) G-Dragon (DRAMA + Heartbreaker + Untitled, 2025) IDID X KickFlip (PUSH BACK + My First Love Song + Boy In Luv) izna ( Mamma Mia ) JO1 (BE CLASSIC + Handz In My Pocket) Kim Hye Soo X Felix X Kyoka X Sung Hangbin X ALLDAY PROJECT (HEAR MY ROAR + BAD BOY + FAMOUS) RIIZE (Bag Bad Back + Fame ) Stray Kids (CREED + Chk Chk Boom + DIVINE + CEREMONY ) TOMORROW X TOGETHER (Upside Down Kiss + Beautiful Strangers ) ZEROBASEONE ( Doctor! Doctor! + ICONIK ) covers Ahn Hyo Seop BABYMONSTER (What It Sounds Like + Golden) KickFlip X IDID (Boy In Luv) winners Visa Artist of the Year (Daesang) : G-Dragon Visa Albu...

  Well, everyone, this looks like it's a clean sweep this week. No winner from The Show, which seems to be the least frequently occurring of the bunch, but of the other five, all of them were won by a single group! So congrats to them! That's exciting! It also means that, if you like this song, that's five more stages for you to love. And if you haven't heard it yet, five more chances for you to fall in love with this song. This week for our After School Club re-run is ep. 547 with LE SSERAFIM! It was their second mini album and they were less than six months after debut. As I'm sure you're all aware, because I talk about it ceaselessly, Aron was one of the members of NU'EST that did not renew contracts with Pledis, which means that Aron and LE SSERAFIM were never under HYBE at the same time as debuted artists, so this could have been their first meeting. Interesting, huh? Yunjin was not present for this, unfortunately. The games and stuff were really fun to...

  So I was expecting to have a different name that I'd be writing. Well done, Stray Kids and IVE. You surprised me. Also, that makes this six wins for one and two first wins across this week's wins, which is also exciting.  With ASC still on hiatus, the re-run for this week is ep. 596 with the boy group POW from 2023. This group I just generally keep forgetting that I really like them, and then I hear their music and go "Who is this????" Then, when I look up the song, I remember I like this group. Allen, Aron, and Taeyoung were the hosts. This is also a reminder for me to do the review I need to from June for the group. Also, Jungbin's hair is so adorable and fluffy. Just wanted to say that. As always, the links below in the table go to my reviews for your perusal if you'd so desire. Show Champion: Stray Kids "CEREMONY" MCountdown: Stray Kids "CEREMONY" Music Bank: IVE "XOXZ" Show! Music Core: IVE "XOXZ" Inkigayo: IVE ...

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  It feels like Slam Dunk came out absolutely ages ago, but I guess it only came out the end of July. Which, again, to be fair, feels like it was absolutely ages ago. Time is a soup. We have an excellent run time on this album, with an average of over three minutes per song, which is impressive because 40% of the songs are under three minutes and one of them is barely two-and-a-half (I'm really looking forward to that one, though, because it's not a title track and I'm very curious about its title). And shout out to the four-minute song! The pre-release was energetic and sporty. This one is smooth and a little noir. It's not full noir, but if they were wearing suspenders and fedoras, doing whatever else, it would make a lot of sense. I'm also reminded a little bit of...

 I waited until I had access to my laptop again before getting to work on this. I figured if I was going to do this little blog thing, I'd do it right, and while these won't be properly traditional reviews, I'd still like to share my thoughts, such as they are. I'm going to preface this with saying that if y'all have been following this for a while, y'all know that I have opinions on certain things, but I also recognize that this is an incredibly difficult job that they do, and they deserve our respect because they have to put up with a lot and have to do a lot in order to have this profession. It's part of why I have frustrations with debuting minors, especially fifteen or younger, and with short songs and with bland songs. But in most instances, the idols are hella talented. It's just that they're not shown off well. Now, if you're still reading and you're new here, welcome! If you're not new here, welcome back!  Let's get into it! ...

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 (...

  As expected. As much as I'd like BTOB to get a win for their new song, it was bad timing with everyone else who is releasing songs around that time. Case in point, we got two first wins for a song. And one of those was a first win ever. So congrats! NouerA was on After School Club, and they made me laugh. For example, here are two little quotes that I caught during the chaos of the games in the last part of the show, prompted by the chaos of the members. One of the MCs said, "What in the hell is going on?" And I laughed. And then not even three seconds later, another MC goes, "This is a chaos." Which made me laugh harder. NouerA are cute, adorable dorks who remind me a little bit of second gen groups in early days. And the starry eyes from the members when they see dance covers of their  song for the first time is what I live for with the newly debuted groups. We have that moment here. Starry-eyed rookies having all of these firsts. I hope they do well. As alw...

  Is anyone else as excited for ONF as I am? Because I'm really, really  excited for ONF. These are wins three and four for their entire career. Also excitingly, The Show  has resumed! First show of the year was this week! Whoo! This week actually had three first wins for songs, which is super cool. And curiously, though understandably considering their upcoming tour, 8TURN was on ASC before their song actually came out, so they couldn't perform it. They also revealed that they've been scolded quite a bit by the company for spoiling too much, but it kind of seemed like they didn't particularly care. There were some audio issues that caused some timing issues, but they were figured out fairly quickly. Or at least a workaround was figured out quickly. I'm very excited to see them on tour.  As always, links in the chart go to my reviews if you missed them. And the links for After School club go to the episode. Good times, friends. Show Champion: ONF "The Stranger...

Release date: 2025 February 24 Album track list: BLUE , Devil Game, Doctor! Doctor! , Out of Love, Step Back, Cruel Album runtime: 17 mi nutes  Okay, I think I'm getting closer to being caught up, so this is good. However, I think I may also be developing a little bit of a migraine, which isn't ideal for anyone. But, I've been looking forward to this album since Doctor! Doctor ! came out, even if I couldn't remember precisely when. And also, I believe one of the members just had a birthday. Or the maknae graduated. Or both things happened. The album runtime is a little bit uncomfy for me, though. There's another song that I'm reminded of. It's from a girl group. It's a little bit older, but still recent. Probably last five years or so. Ah, well. It'll come to me eventually.  I'm a little fascinated by the difference between the instrumentals and vocals. I don't know why, but it sounds like a mashup with two songs playing at the same time. And...

 Whooee, it's been a long 164 days, hasn't it? What do you mean it's only the end of January?  Nope. I'm staying focused. Eyes on the prize. In this case, the prize is the end of December when Minhyun is discharged. So, one month down. Eleven to go. We're also one month closer to several other discharges that will help distract me from the wait, and one month closer to some post-military comebacks that I am absolutely most excited for. And there's one coming out next month that I believe was the first one I was aware of to enlist. But this is January! A little bit of a slow start to the year, but I'm appreciating the pace as I get back into things and recover from my cold.  We had only two group debuts that I could find, that of KickFlip out of JYPE and Stray Kids' younger brothers, considering I think they're in the same division. I'm also hoping this is a good sign and the number of debuting groups will drop this year. Fingers crossed. And als...

Release date: 2025 February 24 Album track list:  BLUE , Devil Game,  Doctor! Doctor! , Out of Love, Step Back, Cruel Album runtime: 17 mi nutes  Pre-release, is it? Okay, ZEROBASEONE, I see you. I do tend to like their music, so I do have tentatively high hopes for this upcoming album as well. But, we shall see. Also, I'm so thoroughly displeased with this whole "Oh, I'm just going to release two and a half minute songs and the fans will be fine with it" thing going on. To be clear, not directed at the members because I doubt they have much if any control over how long their songs are. I'm directing that more towards the company for picking the song, and the songwriters for writing it. If nothing else, then because when purchasing the albums, the consumer pays more per minute on albums with shorter tracks. This song is shorter than the shortest song from their previous mini album ( Eternity ), but that one wasn't a promoted single.  So I'm a super fan of ...

  Release date: 2024 August 26 Album tracklist:  GOOD SO BAD,  KILL THE ROMEO, The Sea - ZB1 Remake, Insomnia, Road Movie, Eternity, Yura Yura - Korean Version Album runtime: 20 minutes This song reminds me a lot of 80s. It's very classic, and I apologize for using the word "classic" here because I'm starting to be at the age where the Youths call the decade I was born in "classic". Well, actually it's the century I was born in that's considered classic now. So despite that reticence, I'm still calling GOOD SO BAD  classic.  The synth riffs and the disco instrumentals make the sound of the sound solidly 80s, early 80s specifically. It's not a fully groovy song, but the vibe is there, and it irresistibly makes me want to groove. So at this point, it doesn't matter that it isn't. I'm excited to see what the music video looks like, because I love the background instrumentals enough that I really want the music video to match. I just ...