I figured I'd do another music review following my one from a couple of weeks ago. Unlike last time there aren't many groups putting out new stuff, however I thought this review could double as an intro to another group that may get added to the schedules.
aespa – Supernova
I enjoy some of aespa's songs like "Hold On Tight", "Drama", "Spicy"... and I enjoy "Supernova" too, however even after enjoying multiple listens, it ends up leaving an impression that something is missing. Unlike songs like "Drama" and "Spicy", there's just nothing that sticks out in "Supernova". There's nothing catchy like "dramamamama" or "I'm a ten out of ten honestly" in the song. There's not even a signature sound that you can remember it by. It's just kind of this nice sounding song that comes and goes.
That said, despite lacking something, maybe that's completely fine? "Supernova" isn't the main promotional song of the group's "Armageddon" album anyway.
Sidenote, the song does get kind of interesting once you're deep into it, so even though it can be regarded as forgettable by some, that's noteworthy enough for me to put it in my list of contenders for best songs of the year.
Stray Kids – Lose My Breath
Unlike aespa, who have some songs that I enjoy, there are alot more Stray Kids songs that I can claim to like. "Christmas EveL"? Like. "Voices"? Like. "District 9"? Like. "Lose My Breath"? No me gusta. Songs like it are pretty hit or miss with people. Either you enjoy it or you don't, and unfortunately I fall into the latter category of folks. I like my pots and pans, and while Stray Kids don't have to deliver a banger every time, I do wish that "Lose My Breath" at least had something for me.
tripleS – ASSEMBLE24
And now we get to the group I alluded to in the introduction. Normally I'd only cover aespa and Stray Kids in an article like this, however seeing as I've been considering ways of adding more groups to the schedules, and that tripleS is one of the groups under consideration, I thought it might be fitting to include them in this review.
Fifth generation's LOONA is at last fully assembled and have released their debut album "ASSEMBLE24". I was hoping that tripleS's title track "Girls Never Die" would be a banger like the fully assembled LOONA's debut song "Favorite", however it fell short of my hopes. In spite of this, "Girls Never Die" is pretty solid and is currently fighting "New Look" for my second favorite song of theirs right behind "Girls' Capitalism".
As for the album's b-sides, the intro song "S" is definitely a great hype song that comes right before "Girls Never Die". It got me anticipating that the title track would be a heavy hitter, so I feel a little cheated by it. The other b-sides that I enjoyed the most were "Midnight Flower", "Chiyu", and "24". "Heart Raider", "Beyond the Beyond", and "Non Scale" were also decent.
The album has some good songs in it, however I think that it would've been better if some of them were in different positions. For example, "Heart Raider" seems like it should've been placed elsewhere. The song takes awhile to get going so it ends up sucking the hype out of the album after we just had two tracks bringing punchy vibes. They definitely should've put "Midnight Flower" as the second or third track since it's heavy hitting rock instrumental would've fit well with the first two songs. Further, "Dimension" should've also been placed elsewhere especially because the intro feels like it's starting a new section to the album, but then the song abruptly ends and the album is just over??? Too jarring.
Good listening aside, the only song that I didn't enjoy was "White Soul Sneakers". It's not bad, but it's just not connecting with me for whatever reason.
Overall, "ASSEMBLE24" is a great start for the group and I look forward to their future releases.