It’s time for Kpopalypse roundup! Let’s check out some new releases!
People are being mean about DIA’s Jenny and saying that nobody knows who she is, but that’s rubbish – she’s confirmed to have at least one fan (pictured).
BTS – Lights
BTS continue to be that super-average group that everybody likes but that doesn’t really have anything special about it either, the Marshall stack of k-pop groups.
BTS – Heartbeat
This, too. I know part of BTS’ marketing is that they’re supposed to be all “important” and shit but I don’t see how they’re going to convince anyone of that by mimicking Coldplay from 20 years ago.
Gfriend – Fever
If they were going to jump onto the bullshit tropical shithouse trend 2017 would have been the time to do it, but I guess Gfriend were too busy fulfilling their “songs that don’t suck” quota back then.
Honey Popcorn – De-aeseohsta
Yua Mikami took a break from taking loads… of cash, to put out a better Gfriend song than Gfriend this week, we should all be thankful. Now I’ve just gotta learn how to say it properly on-air. Radio DJing is a hard life.
Produce 101 – Pretty Girl
I just thought I’d put this here to give people the heads up that yes I’m aware that Produce 101 is a thing again and the answers to any questions about it are “eh”.
Ailee – Room Shaker
Ailee tries to be like Blackpink in your area but her song is not quite the revolution.
Eun Jiwon ft. Blue.D – I’m On Fire
Not a bad beat, imagine if it had a good song over it.
Gavy NJ – See You Again
Over a decade in the business, still can’t fucking use a microphone.
UHSN – Popsicle
No official video or live performances here, sorry. But then I don’t think you’re missing a lot.
E-Sens – Son Of A
Son of a what, I’m not sure, but presumably this isn’t an Iron Maiden tribute. A pity.
#Gun – Park
How slow and boring can a rap song be. Not slow or boring enough, apparently.
Sejin – Why Is My Love So Difficult
I don’t know, maybe you shouldn’t show your date your MP3 playlist so soon into the relationship.
Stella Jang – YOLO
Actually the looped construction of the track is cool, it’s just a pity that the song over the top is pretty crap once it finally appears. Also if there’s a song that really didn’t need a rap this week, this is it.
Lofibaby – SOS
The guy in this group has a keyboard kit to rival Mario Mathy.
Sohlhee – He Ghosted Me
Material for a thousands Kpopalypse post headers of girls looking at their phone as if they’re reading my bullshit postings about them.
Ezuz ft. Kyungri – Latte Is Horse
If I was in some nugu Korean group, I’d sling ex-Nine Muses members a few bucks for a cameo too.
Thornapple – Galaxy
This song never really gets going the way it should.
Mandy – BlueMoonLight
Given that it’s a “producer top billing” track and therefore the usual rule of suckitude applies, Mandy obviously felt it wasn’t worth making too much effort for the video. Quite smart, really.
Yoyomi – How Much More Should I Cry
Yoyomi’s face is so smoothly BB-creamed that while looking at her nose I noticed a fresh spot of grime on my monitor and was able to clean it off thoroughly before she moved away.
Younha – On A Rainy Day
However I still think Younha out-BB-creams her in some isolated scenes here.
Lazybone – Tropical Night
No it’s not tropical shithouse for a change, but a cool ska-punk song complete with Rancid-style walking bass. This is what Gfriend should have done instead, right Korean Indie?
BONUS RANDOM VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Lamb Of God – Laid To Rest – drum cover by Ayeon
I’ve been telling people that Ayeon isn’t just a pretty face and has got mad drumming skills for years, but she usually posts pretty easy-to-play stuff up on her channel that doesn’t really back me up on that. I mean, while there’s certainly nothing wrong with her version, most beginner-to-intermediate drummers can probably make a decent fist of Metallica’s “Sad But True”, me included, because it just ain’t that hard folks. However “Laid To Rest” isn’t easy at all, it’s not the fastest metal song ever or anything but there’s definitely some pretty deceptively challenging timing aspects especially in the breakdowns, so now I’m finally vindicated. The audio quality isn’t that great here unfortunately, but I’m sure if you look hard enough at the video you’ll be able to find ways to distract yourself from the fairly poorly-recorded cymbal sound.
That’s all for this week – Kpopalypse roundup returns next week!
KPOPALYPSE 
I wonder why Gfriend doesn’t come out with another “Summer Rain” for their summer comeback. 2 years in a row for bad summer song (in my opinion, anyway) 😦
Lately, GFriend’s summer comebacks are the time to experiment with the sound (while their autumn/winter comebacks cement their musical style). I like new things being thrown in the mix, but instead of this one I’d prefer something like “Sweety” from their “Sunny Summer” album. It felt like a day/light/summer twin of “Sleepwalking” by Dreamcatcher.
So, Honey Popcorn now has five members and it’s not just Yua getting screen time. Awesome.
EXO’s D.O. recently had a solo Station since he just enlisted. I’m sure you won’t, but I hope you like it
Question is, do the new Honey Popcorn members produce the same kind of documentaries as Yua Mikami does? I’d like to know their scientific work. Any talented journalist willing to help inverstigate?
Don’t worry, Kpopalypse has got you covered.
Note that PD loves Gfriend’s Fever – not just likes, but aggressively loves!
“The Kulture Study: GFRIEND “Fever” MV” He says he despises tropical house, but that Gfriend has altered it and he loves this track …And the MV, he spends most of the video explaining the great color choices and costumes, from a producer’s pov.