Moar songs about sweets and sex maybe?…
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[5.38]
Iain Mew: I’m always fascinated by similarities and links between Korean and British pop, from production crew D-Sign‘s links to Stargate’s UK phase, to Little Mix wearing the same clothes as Girls’ Generation. Little Mix are one of the first groups that come to mind when hearing the hook-filled second-hand funk of “Sugar”, but there’s something stage-school-ish about its oversized performance, which, coupled with its overstuffed production, sounds like a mediocre UK pop hit circa 2000. Funnily enough, the best and least dated-sounding bit is a looser bridge that momentarily sounds just like Cher Lloyd.
[4]
Alfred Soto: “Fructose” more like.
[4]
Madeleine Lee: If you’re young and want to sing on stage, this is the kind of song you dream of performing: fresh, cool and classic, packed with casual melisma and a well-syncopated rap break that will make the audience’s jaw drop when you bust it out. If this sounds like I’m being cynical, I don’t mean to be. I’m excited and a little envious for these girls to be living the dream.
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: The chorus definitely sweetens things, but the titular metaphor and the disjointed verses just bitter this up.
[4]
Zach Lyon: Nice that they stuck a cute 45-second “verse” intro on a song that is ONE THOUSAND PERCENT SPARKLE CHORUS EXPLOSION ALL THE TIME, but I sorta wish those 45 seconds were spent on MORE CHORUS.
[8]
Thomas Inskeep: I’m sincerely fascinated and more than a bit flabbergasted by this single: it’s some sort of K-Pop analogue to Christina Aguilera at her sassiest — she’s the only American pop star I can imagine cutting something like this (plus, both singers Jimin and Yerin have great, big voices). There’s a serious Motown-cum-Vegas vibe here, with a splash of “Hold On! I’m Comin'” via “Hey Ya!” I hear a serious Outkast influence here, actually, specifically the André 3000 side, thanks to all the live instruments (especially the loud cracking snare drum). K-Pop isn’t normally my thing, but this is flat-out awesome, and you need to hear it.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: This is roughly as believable as Paloma Faith.
[4]
Brad Shoup: Bludgeoned by a late-night TV house band is a hell of a way to go.
[4]