This is blog post #500(!) and I finally have another edition of Girl Group Power Rankings. I'd love to say this was all part of my grand scheme for delaying this for so damn long but we all know that's bullshit haha. It's been a while so this will serve as a refresher course for the Power Ranking posts. Group Power Rankings are all about what a team has done lately, what talents they bring to the table, and how consistent they are / could be. They're all subjective lists anyway but I like showing the criteria I use, if only to keep my own rankings consistent over time.
Even though it's been a while, I still reference the previous list which was nearly one year ago (yikes), but also treat 2019 almost like a brand new year. Older groups that previously were on the list due to legacy but have since disbanded or "gone on hiatus" will not be making an appearance, so you won't see names like Girls' Generation, EXID, or Girls' Day on here. Though it should be mentioned that Brown Eyed Girls is having a comeback soon but their veteran status is so lofty it wouldn't feel right putting them here with these youngsters. In a similar vein, shoutouts to AOA for their participation in Queendom. They've handled well as a group of five.
Previous installments have included a "new releases" tab where I showcase some of their work between ranking posts and that trend will continue. No auxiliary releases though: only main Korean comebacks and other noteworthy efforts - there will be no OST work or Japanese promotions. Is that enough rambling? Alright, onto the list!
Honorable Mention: Black Pink * New Releases: Kill This Love
In a company battle reminiscent of the late 2000's, YG's Black Pink barely edges out JYP's Itzy for the last honorable mention. They're contrasts to each other in many ways: BP has better rappers, Itzy has better singers, and both groups are known for their choreography. Itzy is a newcomer with a pair of meh tracks to their name so far, while Black Pink has been around with enough inactivity to kill a cow. Speaking of killing, "Kill This Love" was touted as the worst Black Pink release during my review back in April. While that statement still stands true I have thought better of it upon scarce listens since, plus it eases expectations for their next comeback in the year 2021.
Like Seventeen, Dreamcatcher is making their first song review appearance on this blog and came off a Best Of 2018 placing. Unlike Seventeen however, I have always had my eye on Dreamcatcher (since the rebranding anyway). Their style is unique among the sea of copycat girl groups and they've justly picked up a strong following. "Deja Vu" continues their 2019 campaign after "Piri" and some miscellaneous material like "Over The Sky" and a Japanese promotion.
Seventeen have primarily enlightened me through dance, so I have never reviewed any of their songs. Even when I was in school and my crew covered many a Seventeen song, it wasn't until I personally started learning their dances through covers that I took notice. Outside of "Thanks," which ranked as my #3 song in 2018, they've mainly been average on a good day. None of their other title tracks appeal to me and that includes "Getting Closer." Sure they have some decent tracks here and there and almost always deliver with their choreography but the songs by themselves leave much to be desired from a group with so many members. Let's see how their inaugural review appearance with "Fear" goes.
Who let BM name this track? Seriously, "Dumb Litty?" The man is a meme machine...and I love it. After "Bomb Bomb" failed to produce hype for me, this is their chance at redemption. They've certainly proved they are no fluke since debut, but having a shaky sequence of title tracks would not be doing them any favors. Since there's no similar group competition (per se) they have to make every comeback count. They've yet to snag a major win right? The time is nigh my KARD friends.
Teasers for "Dumb Litty" have looked promising, with an inherent god / goddess theme and a hard-hitting sound that we've come to expect from KARD. Jiwoo and Somin look amazing as always, with Jiwoo gaining the post-teaser advantage. Not sure if it's the makeup (or Somin's own being less good) but she is as striking as always. The dance teaser that was released yesterday showed some more audio - and framed awkwardly might I add - so we know more what this track will be like once it's out on the 22nd. If the chorus is anything to go by, then consider me unenthused. It's the standard mixture of repetition and English which aren't that exciting, much less coming from KARD. At least the choreography looks pretty sweet, and as you've all heard me rant before, I'm dying for some good choreo this year. Should the verses and rapping hold up to their standard, it may be enough to salvage the poor chorus.
There hasn't been a lot of time to write, but over the next week I plan on writing my thoughts on the DAY6 concert, with reviews for Dreamcatcher and Seventeen. Then throw in a retro or more realistically, a fluff piece before god forbid I publish an actual power ranking list for the first time in three months.
Heading to my first DAY6 concert tomorrow, it's time for their Best Of edition. Fun fact: you can look back to songs released in 2017 and find Youtube comments stating "this group has no bad songs." These statements still hold true to this day (heh). JYP has never had an artist as consistent as these dudes - if you conveniently ignore the Junhyeok departure,which to be fair happened early on in their career. As a result, I am overly excited for tomorrow's concert despite it being on a Sunday. Here are my picks for DAY6's best.
#10. You Were Beautiful
When I reviewed "Hi Hello," I talked about how I prefer they play more high tempo material. The energy inherent within a band's instruments should always be utilized. That being said I can appreciate the slow jam gem every once in a while. "You Were Beautiful" is a romantic nostalgic ride (for some of us anyway) with a gorgeous chorus that's equally exciting on both the vocal and instrumental fronts. The bridge is juicy and leads well into the final chorus. More importantly, there's no rapping from Brian here. You may expect to find this sentence in many of the songs on this list. Also shoutouts to the English version of this track, as when these are crafted well they're always a treat.
#9. Congratulations
Considering that "Congratulations" only ranks 9th, and coupled with the idea that DAY6 does not have bad songs, and that's mighty impressive. Like "You Were Beautiful" there's also an English version of "Congratulations," and both versions of the latter trump the former. Both songs are about an ex-lover but the energy in "Congratulations" is better and more infectious. This song showed everyone a glimpse of what DAY6 brought to the table with their instrument prowess and exciting voices. In the hall of JYPE debuts this is one of if not the top candidate. Ironically, both the Korean and English versions have Young K's best raps in their discography. So unlike their songs which got better and better, any rapping got worse and worse.
#8. Dance Dance
Honestly I'm gonna end up writing the same shit over and over for a lot of these entries. Oh well, whatever. "Dance Dance" brings high-octane fun for every listener. The harmonies (and to a lesser extent the chanting / audibles) throughout the chorus are DAY6 staples that will never go underappreciated by me. The middle section of the song (and the repetitive nature of the final 30 seconds) is considerably weaker (for rapping-related reasons) but that's more credit to how the rest of the song shapes up. "Dance Dance" does its job at making you want to get up and dance.
#7. Time Of Our Life
DAY6 the band made their latest title track an anime opening. Fans of both have been hella pleased. All the typical ingredients of a DAY6 classic are here: the driving drums and guitar, the uplifting vocals, the harmonies, and especially the lack of rap. By the way the "won" in Wonpil stands for "wonderful" because his voice is really something special. If I ever make an extended version of Boy Group Vocalist Power Rankings he'd be a lock for at least B tier. I've honestly really enjoyed this newest track over the last two months but I cannot give it any higher a placing than 7th. That'd be rude to the other selections at the top end of this list.
#6. I Need Somebody
The only other slow song finds its way onto the ranking, "I Need Somebody" is a masterpiece of an emotional jam. "Why am I alone?" is the question hounding throughout the choruses and the powerful voices of Young K and Sungjin really drive it home. And do you hear that bridge? The feels man, the feels. This is what I classify a "power ballad" with the naturally slow elements of a ballad intertwined with the emphatic backing instrumental and strong vocals. It's a beautiful track that quickly became a staple of my sad_zone playlist.
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#5. Somehow
Back-to-back B-side appearances on here! "Somehow" might actually have the best chorus of the entire list which is a damn bold statement to make. Sungjin and Wonpil did not play around with those high notes at all. The song flows extremely well from the light verses to rising prechorus and finally the magnificent chorus. And speaking of high notes, how about respect for my man Brian with his own during the bridge? I wanted to include the studio version but instead I found something better: fucking look at Dowoon's face during the first chorus. Should I witness something of this caliber tomorrow night I will consider it an absolute victory. Let the memes flow.
#4. Shoot Me
First it was back-to-back B-sides, now back-to-back selections from the same album. This is where things get really interesting. DAY6 and "Shoot Me" landed at #8 on the Best Of 2018 which is the best of their two entries on any Best Of 20XX list. Find out who was able to outshine this placing shortly afterward. To reuse a quote I've said about this song before: "Shoot Me" is full of energy and is exactly what you want out of these instrument-jamming kids. Jae has been as consistent as the band itself, but I consider this one of his best outings to date. It's only fourth here, but I imagine come tomorrow I will have jammed out to this song the hardest.
#2B. How Can I Say
Yep. I'm a mad lad. I couldn't decide between the bronze and silver medals, so I designated them as 2A and 2B. Sort of like the Minnesota Vikings with Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs: both are really good receives and are WR1A and WR1B as opposed to WR1 and WR2. But anyway enough football what can I say about "How Can I Say?" The high-rise energy is there, the powerful drumming is there, and so is everything else you'd ever want from these guys. When this song could be considered a fucking baseline for their library, you're doing something right. And since this was released in early 2017, they have kept up with the good work.
#2A. I Wait
Everything fell into place rather quickly when drafting this post, but the battle between "How Can I Say" and "I Wait" was legendary. Truth be told I was nearly about to flip a coin to determine who got where before the NFL analogy came into play. "I Wait" is more of an earworm and the instruments are really fucking good - moreso than usual since we're talking about this band. Meanwhile, "How Can I Say" houses a more active chorus and is faster paced overall. You really couldn't go wrong with either song if you were forced to pick at gunpoint (which may or may not be how I felt while writing this).
#1. Letting Go
"Letting Go" is damn good. No more words are necessary to describe the beauty of this song, but alas we must go on. The sentimental value of this song is important as this was released shortly after Junhyeok departed for greener? pastures. Apparently according to Wikipedia, this was also the song that coincided with their first official stage debut. Plenty of historic songs have had their status amplified due to emotional significance whether early or late (think Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry" or Lee Hi's "Breathe"). A question I asked myself was how "Letting Go" compares to "Shoot Me." The former was #15 in 2016 while the latter was #8 in 2018. Considering the level of competition in 2017, the #15 spot is arguably more impressive than "Shoot Me" getting 8th last year. Plus, "Letting Go" was their second release - they had not perfected their craft quite yet back in 2016. Additionally, there's a rebooted version which erases Brian's rap in favor of a traditionally excellent DAY6 bridge, which gives this song even more points. Only putting the rebooted version would be disrespectful to the original, which was near-perfect in the groundwork. If I can only hear one song live at concert, it'd be this one no doubt.
How fitting that we talk about "Devil" on Friday the 13th. CLC have had a very strong 2019, starting out with "No," and following that up with the spectacular "Me." Now "Devil" continues with the single word titles and hopefully, their songs rising in power will be mirrored with a rise in rank among the girl groups of this day and age. ...I really have pushed back Girl Group Power Rankings for way too long, yikes.
The funny thing I realized is that even though I feel post production has been slow this year, I'm still on pace for the second most posts in a year on the history of my blog. Of course now that I've said that, everything will self-destruct during the fall and that won't happen but I digress.
Rocket Punch - Bim Bam Bum
Woollim has a new girl group in town. Rocket Punch's "Bim Bam Bum" is your average summery dance track with blips of English here and there, and a generic music video to boot. Truth be told there isn't anything particularly interesting to glean about Rocket Punch to start, but they are coming out of a respectable label so I figure they were worth mentioning here. They do have a neat logo, which I'll use in future posts that need them. They're obviously going in a different direction from Lovelyz, so it'll be interesting to see how they progress with more comebacks.
