Did you miss any girl group releases in August, 2019?

[Siobhan Halo]

The video is just a short snippet from each MV and the links below go the MVs.

OH MY GIRL - BUNGEE (Fall in Love)
PinkFantasy - Fantasy
VENUS - Turn Signal (debut, Trot FTW!)
FANATICS - SUNDAY (debut)
Rocket Punch - BIM BAM BUM (debut)
CSVC - SUMMER LOVE (debut, no MV)
Weki Meki - Tiki-Taka (99%)
LIMHARA - Mr. Green
GSA (Girls Alert) - We got the power (massive concept change)
EVERGLOW - Adios
HOLICS - I`M UR FAN
Red Velvet - Umpah Umpah
ANS - Wonderland (pre-debut)
Celeb Five - I Wish I Could Unsee That (parody, but still good)
Midnight - Algorithm
G-Reyish - KKILI KKILI
XJR - MONEY TALK (Girlkind subgroup)
Fanxy Red - T.O.P (Chinese GG, redebut, used to be Acrush)

 

[UMJI MOODS]

I always look forward to seeing and hearing this.

 

[tokki]

really loved bungee, fantasy, sunday, tiki taka, and umpah umpah

 

[fromisJelly]

I missed this:

 

[Pandaa]

umpah umpah umpah de doo

 

[spo]

I used to be really on top of these things, but this year I've sort of stopped paying attention to groups that don't promote on music shows (because they have a tendency to just sort of... disappear), so I missed CSVC, LIMHARA, Midnight's comeback, and Fanxyred.

Spoiler: Thoughts under spoiler!

OMG's Bungee-Not a fan. I've always highly preferred their more ethereal, pure stuff over their cute things (although I normally like cute concepts, but the way OMG has done it hasn't done it for me), and SSFWL is one of my favorite kpop songs of 2019 so far, so this was a let down. Just felt like I've heard this before: from them and from other groups.

PinkFantasy-Good for a nugu release. Loved Iriwa and this is a pretty good follow up. Kind of seems like their agency is leaning heavy on Seea and Yechan, and they do have the best voices, but if they're not careful it'll become PCD real quick.

VENUS-Loved this actually (and I'm normally neutral on Trot). Loved their performances too. They have great voices and good stage presence and I hope we get to see more of this quirky-cute style.

FANATICS-disappointed by this debut. I was absolutely living for their hard-hitting dance covers pre-debut, and I'm a fan of the cute concept their subunit had, but this feels neither hard-hitting or cute. It's clear that all of these girls are uber-talented, so it's kind of a bummer that the song is such a snooze.

Rocket Punch-liked this more than I thought I would. I thought they would debut with nothing original and nothing to add to the industry right now (I mean rocket punch is such a bad name, and it just sounds like a worse version of cherry bullet or neonpunch), but no this song is a lot of fun. Love how the second verse is double time, into the dance, and the girls have a lot of charisma. I'm optimistic for this group.

Weki Meki-Liked more than Picky Picky, but still less than my favorite from them (Crush). It's a good summer song that feels like a Weki Meki song, meaning that they're definitely evolving their own color. It won't be enough to push them into the mainstream, but it's for sure a solid entry in their discography.

LIMHARA-This is my first time hearing about this group, and they're really phenomenal. They're not really a pop/idol group (and I tend to listen to more poppy stuff), but the song is great (super complex, musically) and they're obviously super talented. I'm sure they'll develop of solid fanbase inside fans of this genre.

GSA-I liked girls' alert some. This feels like a joke. Glad they're still going, but this was just cringey to me. Doing a 180 in concepts whenever there's a new trend in kpop is bad practice and doesn't seem like a good way to gain a loyal fandom. It's just throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. I understand that they did this because they haven't really been able to become popular, but I like seeing a group's sound develop naturally.

Everglow-a little repetitive but a pretty fun club hit. After a while of listening to Bon Bon Chocolat the novelty wore off and I got kind of bored of (because there wasn't that much going on), and I suspect Adios will be the same. They've got a lot of stage presence though.

HOLICS-For such a nugu group, their longevity is astounding (they debuted in 2016!!). I don't have anything to say about this song though. Sort of Blah.

Red Velvet-god so much better than ZZB. Haven't been crazy about the performances (or the choreo in general) but the song is a lot of fun and really shows off all of RV's vocals.

ANS-if when they debut they perform on music shows I'll keep my eye out for them, but I won't go searching for them if they don't. Also I kind of hate pre-debut songs. Either debut or don't.

Celeb Five-hilarious, obviously. Musically, whatever. I tend not to like ballads, and parody ballads aren't really any better.

Midnight-Purposefully not following this group. I thought their debut(?), Girl Groups Flooded, was a cheap attempt at attention, and very hypocritical given that they're 100% an idol girl group. Whether it was their company's choice or theirs, it was obnoxious, and felt cold-blooded. I'm not ever here for women attacking other women. Hard pass.

G-Reyish-thought Candy was unironically fabulous. This is less fabulous, but still fun. It's a good song too, but it doesn't really seem to fit them as well.

Girlkind-It's fine. Haven't really liked any of their songs so far, but it's not really my type of music. Either way, a rookie girl group debuting a subunit normally means (ironically, given the song) money troubles. Hopefully, now that girl crush groups are in, these ladies can see some interest develop.

Fanxyred-Lol i think I'm the target demo for this group.... Hard yes for the concept, soft no for the song (repetitive, a little forgettable). I might end up following them anyway because they're studs, but I'm going to be really interested to see if this is a successful ploy in SK.

 

[Siobhan Halo]

I used to be really on top of these things, but this year I've sort of stopped paying attention to groups that don't promote on music shows (because they have a tendency to just sort of... disappear), so I missed CSVC, LIMHARA, Midnight's comeback, and Fanxyred.

Thanks for your well thought out post. I agree with you on most things esp. Midnight, - first song disses GGs, second song disses the members that left because of the hate the first song gathered, I mean come on, not cool. Girls Alert's concept change is a bit too calculated to be taken seriously, Greyish's thing is concept changes and even they don't jump that far. For me, this song for Fanxy Red is better than their Acrush songs, still not awesome but moving the right way, they've changed companies so I expect to see continued improvement.

 

[spo]

Thanks for your well thought out post. I agree with you on most things esp. Midnight, - first song disses GGs, second song disses the members that left because of the hate the first song gathered, I mean come on, not cool. Girls Alert's concept change is a bit too calculated to be taken seriously, Greyish's thing is concept changes and even they don't jump that far. For me, this song for Fanxy Red is better than their Acrush songs, still not awesome but moving the right way, they've changed companies so I expect to see continued improvement.

I love girl groups and I always love these posts because there is always a gem I've missed. The issue with Greyish is the same issue with Gugudan I think. When you do a lot of different concepts some will just work better for the group and you don't really get to nail down what fans can expect from the group going forward. What I have been impressed with is Greyish's high level of song quality, especially given how low budget they clearly are. Interested to see that even though fanxyred is a Chinese group they're releasing Korean versions of songs. I do hope you're right about them.

 

[Velvet]

I'm not super in to nugu releases, but KKILI KKILI is so good.

 

[Icy]

i used to know every nugu release but i stopped caring lol
And some girl groups in there like weki meki and rocket punch and omg that i just didn't enjoy the song
i love umpah umpah and adios and i am good with that.

 

[frostpuddle]

my favourite out of these is pinkfantasy and celeb5.

fully sold on yechan and seea's vocals. but that rabbit mask needs to go, it's hard to take them seriously if they keep that gimmick. it's kinda sad & painful that pinkfantasy is only able to promote fantasy once on a music show, and their physical sales is almost non-existent. can't even find the album in the usual international kpop sites like ktown4u, kpopmart or yesasia.

 

[GVK]

My Top 3 this month are:
1. Everglow - Adios
Immediate fave from 1st listen. I love how the big room genre was incorporated into a kpop song. And the suspense before the drop is so so good!

2. Weki Meki - Tiki-Taka
Didn't think much of it at first honestly. Just sounded like another typical summer bop. But I guess the hook was too good I got reeled in.

3. Rocket Punch - Bim Bam Bum
This was a toss up. I like many songs this month and there wasn't a definite 3rd among them. At first listen this song felt a bit underwhelming but after a few listens it was better. Idk what to comment more honestly other than it's a good debut song.

Other highlights:
Fanatics - Sunday
A very close 3rd spot. I like how it sounds, quite chill but actually not really. Also a good debut song. Yes it's unfortunate that this is their debut when they were always showcasing epic covers but I've seen enough of that in kpop to expect better. They're supposedly a 'flexible' group so maybe the concept will revolve around which members are participating. Doah would probably be in all of them lol.

Pink Fantasy - Fantasy
I love me some good rock. It's very cool but the line distribution is horrible and Yubin isn't participating which is basically the only member I know lol.

OMG - Bungee
I like the song but idk why I didn't listen to it more lol

RV - Umpah Umpah
Thank God they toned down the weirdness! The song just screams RED VELVET but also it kinda sounds like end credit music. Only me? Also didn't listen to it much for whatever reason.

Midnight - Algorithm
I like it. Chill but in a different sense to "Sunday". Sleepy looks different lol.

G-Reyish - Kkili Kkili
Hook hook hook. Cute. I like it.

ps, love the cuts this time

 

[fullofjoy]

August was a great month!

 

[BianTwo]

Everglow and Rocket Punch got more attention
Pink Fantasy a good surprise
Red Velvet couldn't do worst than Zimzalabim
Celeb Five, love that parody
Greyish their comeback was so sudden but they are still active it's good.
Fanatics one of my fav, but good luck for them to be more noticed.