[Recap] 2015 May-August: Big Scores

Welcome back to another Recap. Now that we've had another 4 months pass us by, I've got a better grasp on what I want to use this series for. Besides the obvious recap, I can go over songs that I missed, or other topics, sort of like a mix between the usual reviews and the extremely rare blog posts (though I do have another of those coming up). I might not keep these to be recurring every 4 months, hence why I've changed the title of these types of posts. Anyway, I reviewed 30 songs from May to August, which is double the amount from January to April. I'm glad I was more productive! Anyway putting them in a list would be very clunky and take up a lot of space. So to overview the summer block, I condensed the list by score. If scores are the same, the better song is listed to the right.

May - August Rankings
30. Big Bang - Bang Bang Bang // Big Bang - Bae Bae (75)
28. Hyuna - Because I'm The Best (76)
27. Sistar - Shake It (77)
26. Hara - Choco Chip Cookies // Girls' Generation - Party (78)
24. Hyosung - Into You // A-Pink - Remember // Eunjung - I'm Good (80)
21. Wonder Girls - I Feel You // Girls' Generation - Lion Heart (82)
19. BoA - Kiss My Lips // Big Bang - We Like 2 Party // T-ARA - So Crazy (83)
16. GD&TOP - Zutter // 2PM - My House // Big Bang - Loser // Mamamoo - Um Oh Ah Yeah (85)
12. Super Junior - Devil (86)
11. KARA - Cupid (87)
10. Girl's Day - Ring My Bell // BTS - Dope // Girls' Generation - You Think // EXO - Love Me Right (88)
6. Lim Kim - Love Game // AOA - Heart Attack // Big Bang - Let's Not Fall In Love (90)
3. Big Bang - Sober // 9MUSES - Hurt Locker (92)
1. INFINITE - Bad (94)

I won't really dive into individual scores too much but man I overestimated a few songs. "Love Game," "Cupid," "Kiss My Lips," and "Into You" should probably drop a few points. They're still pretty good songs but when I see them next to some of the others in that score range I don't know what I was thinking. Come to think of it, most of the soloists didn't really do that well in the grand scheme of things, since the top 10 (that I reviewed) is dominated by the groups. This was a pretty good set for the summer, though most summer tracks were fairly average.

Big Bang Theory
Big Bang's long-awaited comeback delivered in spades. They provided all sorts of songs with relative success. The more casual you are I think the more you enjoyed this comeback. Or rather, if you had less expectations you'd have been more surprised with the result. "Bae Bae" and "Zutter" are more of the classic goof songs from Big Bang, while "Loser," "If You," and "Let's Not Fall In Love" are fantastic slower songs. "Sober" is definitely the star of the set, while the more chill songs "We Like 2 Party" and "Loser" also give strong showings. We do not speak of "Bang Bang Bang." All in all, 2015 wasn't so much a defining year for Big Bang, but this comeback certainly presents them in a strong fashion with this album. Who knows what's next.

Solo Ships
No, not that kind of ship. Quite a handful of solo artists joined the girl group comeback wave, along with some group soloists, too. Unfortunately, most if not all of them paled in comparison to group releases. BoA's album is probably the headliner but to be honest the rest of the field is more forgettable. Hyuna's "Because I'm The Best" couldn't live up to "Red," and the surprising and quiet debuts of Hara and Eunjung respectively didn't yield many good results. Juniel casually joined the fray with "Sorry" a few weeks ago but she has yet to really cement herself in the upper echelons of Kpop / soloists. Summer 2015 simply wasn't quite what it was for soloists compared to groups.

The Best of Summer 2015
So out of all the songs I reviewed, Infinite's "Bad" topped the list with a score of 94 / 100. That's damn impressive, but there have been some other songs that weren't reviewed or non-title tracks that really caught my attention, too. I'll drop a few of my personal favourites.

Primary - Don't Be Shy (feat. Choa & Iron)

I've been loving Primary lately. All the collaborations and projects and albums have been awesome. There were a select few of Primary songs that really impressed, but man this one is so good. Choa is incredible from start to finish, and is more proof that she really holds down the talent within AOA. Iron's feature is also pretty good, though definitely picks up towards the end of his rap. The feel of this reggae track is good and the cute and creepy MV full of sleepover shenanigans and Pokemon trading cards make for a strong release.

MAMAMOO - No No No

This is the title track that I wanted "Um Oh Ah Yeah" to be. The sass, the instrumental, the overall sound of this song is both carefree but has direction. The pop influence is there, but there's still traces of retro scattered about. Solar and Wheein are a holy combination of vocals and while Hwasa takes more of the sassy lines to inject personality in the song, Wheein and Solar's lines are the backbone. I don't know that Wheein is saying "winner" though, sure sounds like "we know" to me. You can even hear eSNa here and there. Lastly, Moonbyul's rap is fierce and gives her yet another strong rap to work with in her already impressive repertoire. Stop saying your name though, it's silly. Don't turn into the next JYP.

B2ST - Gotta Go To Work

This is a turning point for SHINee and B2ST. Previously, these groups were always "good but not great." Their comeback with "YeY" was loud but perhaps a little too loud. "Gotta Go To Work" is definitely the song of choice. Junhyung does a good job driving the chorus, which is a rare sight. When is the last time you saw the rapper lead a chorus? The casual yet lively attitude makes for a good relaxing tune, and somehow Yoseob's high tones aren't that grating for me this time around. Coupled with a cute video and B2ST finally has a winner.

Sistar - Don't Be Such A Baby (feat. Giriboy)

Here's another exhibit of poor title song choice. Sistar's "Shake It" was a fun but ultimately lacking track, but "Don't Be Such A Baby" recovers in all the right places. Hyorin's lovely vocals aren't out place, and combined with Soyu's breathy lines give this song a very soothing nature. Bora's rap is so good, redeeming herself from the mediocrity of the rap in "Shake It." Giriboy's inclusion is also very good if only for adding another perspective to the song lyrics. This really should've been the lead song on the "Shake It" mini album.

Closing Thoughts
Surprisingly(?), this summer delivered far more successes than failures. Sure there were disappointments but at this point it's basically impossible to evade those. Since I was so review-heavy over the summer, I'll try to shift more towards other pieces in the next few months. Get some blog posts running, some bias lists, and the actual return of the Girl Group Rapper Power rankings. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Thanks for reading!