[Bonus] Girl Group Power Rankings VIII: Summer 2018

It's time for another round of Girl Group Power Rankings! There's only been four months since the last episode but the summer has been bountiful and thus more shuffling of the girl group ladder had to commence. Minor switches more often is better than major switches less often, especially on a list that only has ten ranked groups. Here's who's hotest during the summer of 2018.

Honorable Mention: Girl's Day
* New Releases: N/A
Like I said, inactivity will have to be a more serious offence. Girl's Day have done nothing since late March 2017 and have been focusing on individual non-music activities. Therefore they'll drop out into Honorable Mentions, but not entirely off the chart. Despite the lack of promotions, they are still one of the best groups in recent years. While you could say the same for Girls' Generation, the fractured group structure prevents them from getting to the same level as Girl's Day.

Honorable Mention: Loona (NEW)
* New Releases: Egoist (Olivia), love4eva (yyxy)
Man, Loona has got things going. There's plenty of hype surrounding this group. Their official debut will either be one of the greatest in the current era of Kpop or completely underwhelm and bust. Given their extensive track record of solid "predebut" songs though, they should at least do admirably. My favorites so far have been Jinsoul's "Singing In The Rain," Kim Lip's "Eclipse," and Olivia Hye's "Egoist." With so many different styles showcased by their members, who knows what genre they'll debut with.

#10. Black Pink (--)
* New Releases: Ddu-du Ddu-du
Given how much I disliked their comeback, Loona ranking above Black Pink was a real possibility. But their performance numbers-wise is very impressive. I suppose that's what happens when a fandom is so starved. Being the fastest group MV to reach 200 million views counts for something. Jennie was hilarious on Running Man and their Instagram have been popping off. Regardless, I'm going to keep ranking them low until they either get out of the dungeon more or comeback with a bomb track.

[Review] Apink - I'm So Sick

This is the make-or-break point for Apink for me. It's been four years since "Mr. Chu" - which I consider their best hit - was released, and they've yet to recapture that magic since. It's actually concerning how many mediocre songs they've had during that time. Not that they had terrible songs per se, just nothing that really stuck. However, teasers for "I'm So Sick" showed plenty of promise, and actually got me excited about Apink for once. Would that hold?

With "I'm So Sick," Apink have (for the first time in a long while) abandoned the cutesy dance pop theme and instead shifted to a more mature sound. This is clearly a win in my book because I've always liked that style more across all girl groups. They also have the vocal ability to not make it sound terrible, which is a plus. Honestly the prechorus and chorus are gorgeous, while the instrumental and background vocals during the dance breaks are splendid as well. However, the structure of an Apink song has gotten so incredibly stale: Chorong gets an early part, Eunji and Bomi sing the chorus while everyone else mops up the rest. It really wouldn't hurt to mix things up during each comeback...

[Bonus] Best Of Debuts: SME Edition

They're the only label with such a large assortment of artists to even do this for, so here is SM Entertainment's version of the Best Of Debuts (which has only one prior post). Some of this will overlap with said post because a handful of their groups made it on this list. However, times change and not only that, but this is only having their debut tracks in direct competition with each other. How good the song is / was overall matters most, but I also took into account relevancy at the time and if it withstood the modernization of Kpop. Because we wanna see each of their main superstars go head-to-head, TRAX and Zhang Liyin will be absent from this list, as will subunits and project groups like S.M. The Ballad and EXO-CBX. That could make for an entertaining revisit in the future though.

#10. Red Velvet - Happiness

Yeah...there's no way that Red Velvet wouldn't be last on a list like this. I still have nightmares about this song. From the awkward pronunciation of "happiness" to the terrible rapping heard throughout, there was a lot to forget about this debut. There was also the MV and the many issues there. Not much else to say other than thank heavens they turned it quite the ways around.

#9. Super Junior - Twins (Knock Out)

Despite not needing to compare with modern era boy groups, Super Junior 05's debut simply lacked the knock out capability their title claimed. I just don't think "Twins" is that good a song. Unremarkable in all facets, this was only impressive in the sheer number of members, as having 12 members was and still is unusual to see. In retrospect they almost had a fusion element to their early songs (almost like Dreamcatcher but a little more intense) and that's probably why I didn't like their pre-breakout era music.

#8. CSJH - Too Good

Before Mamamoo, there was SPICA. And before SPICA, there was CSJH. Pure vocalist groups can all trace their ancestry to the girls of CSJH The Grace. Their debut video has nothing but powerful voices and closeups to focus on the faces behind the voices. All these girls could sing and would dominate the competition today. Stephanie left and they've basically been dead but Dana's still kicking it today! Or at least, she did a ways back with "Touch You." Oh fuck that was two years ago...

[Review] JJ Project - Bounce (Revisited)

These revisits will temporarily conclude now that I've looked at the first three reviews on the blog. Plus with a plethora of July releases on the way there'll be no shortage of material to talk about, though time will be another story. Here's my thoughts about my thoughts on JYP's newest project at the time - a duo that would eventually lead to the core of GOT7.

• JB’s pink mix with blonde is interesting, definitely not something I see other singers pulling off so props to him. Also something to note: there were no hairstyle changes throughout the music video, only costume switches. Speaking of which, their outfits are also not anything amazing, which matches their schoolboy appearance and subsequently the MV set location.

Back in the day, I talked about appearances in my reviews because - and let's be honest - visuals are very much a driving force in Kpop and the younger me was even more easily swayed in my early Kpop years. Which of course made it weird talking about boy groups but alas.

• I love this choreography, partially because it is reminiscent of 2PM’s early stuff and I miss seeing variety. Also, this dance absolutely destroys anything 2TVXQ had (at least for now, S.M. may surprise me).

While "love" seems like a strong choice in retrospect, I had no idea about the skill ranges of choreography back then. But that's why I'm looking back in the first place, to see how times and opinions have changed. It's still a fun dance with plenty of energy that matches the song. The headbanging is definitely a solid touch, and the dance moves themselves aren't too difficult while still being neat.

Recurring Series Directory

Hello. This will be the central hub for any series that I've got on the blog: Bias Power Rankings, Rapper Power Rankings, etc. Those will be the bulk of the series since I love writing them, but will also have other stuff like Best Of B-Sides. Future new series will also get added here. For series that were broken up, I'll link the first section of each installment. It's a place to see how certain series have evolved and how my writing style has changed over the years. Maybe they'll get replaced with some cute banners. too. Assuming that I can pin this somewhere on the sidebar, this will be a solid addition to the blog.

I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI | XII | XIII | XIV
Timeline (IX)

I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX | X | XI

I | II | III

I | II | III | IV | V

I | II | III | IV

2008+ | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
2010's | Timeline ('17)

I | II | III | IV

I | II | III?

[Bonus] Best Of 2018...So Far

Nothing wrong with a little June speculation. Here are my picks for the best songs released so far in 2018. Obviously I'll have missed some artists (especially the more recent ones) but we're in the middle of the year so we can see who is winning so far.  It'll be interesting to see how the selections here last when December rolls around and everything gets reevaluated with new songs in the second half of the year. They will be grouped loosely, and don't really serve a purpose since I believe trying to rank them right now would be silly.

Block B - Don't Leave

Block B have yet to break into a Best Of 20XX post, but here's their unofficial debut. "Don't Leave" shows off the melancholy side of Block B that they've perfected nearly as well as their hyperactive dance numbers. Block B were kind of one of the early groups to have two distinct sides to their title track game. Zico and P.O deliver flawless moments and both share the high point(s) of the song.

iKON - Love Scenario

Like Block B, iKON have been less of a main act and more of a disappearing one. They're more Winner and less Big Bang, if we're to use labelmate descriptions. But "Love Scenario" is their best song to date and their crazy chart successes mirror that. It's catchy, enjoyable, and has a good hook. Previous iKON releases have felt like a reach in some way or another. Sometimes the song was mediocre and other times the song had cringe moments. "Love Scenario" covers those weaknesses and has more of Junhoe's special voice.

Heize - Jenga

After "Don't Know You" last year, Heize drops another treat in "Jenga." This time she teams up with Gaeko and gives us another smooth tour of the Heize mansion. Her voice prettily glides through the track while Gaeko's rap gives us a nice boost of energy. I'll keep it short here since I previously reviewed it. That instrumental break is amazing and one of the best of all time. Between the bridge here and in Younha's "Hero," I can't quite think of other similar greats.