Day[5.90]…
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[5.90]
Micha Cavaseno: Truly something in how the songs by Day6, a clear boy band in design (not a dig but a fact; rock bands have rarely considered it important to allow everyone in their band to get solo vocal sections and harmonize together in a unit these days) make rock feel so fake. On other songs, the cleanness of the production is unnatural to the point I don’t think I’ve ever heard chords strummed with the freakish clarity on their records, for whatever the dullness of the tunes actually result. The weird freaky highlight in “I Wait” are the Skrillex-like 8-bit tinges on their big chorus, a sort of joking wink at how artificial their gestures of realness and authenticity that their #NotAllBoyz instruments beg to announce.
[3]
Mo Kim: Yeah, yeah, I know: Day6 has the misfortune of occupying the awkward intersection of “boy band” and “actual band,” which on most Venn diagrams would be an empty set. But “I Wait” bridges those ideas quite well, working both rock tropes and K-pop’s characteristically sparkly production into a sound that’s not just emotive but cool. There are unexpected pockets of feeling here on each listen, whether the way the vocal melody lifts towards vulnerability on each “ah-whae” or the claustrophobia creeping into the “whatchudoing”s that pepper the pre-chorus. And that’s not even to mention the glitchy boss-stage synths that slice through every so often, the last little hook this needs to tip it into compulsive replayability. Day6 works its influences like Disneyland operators on Space Mountain: This is a thrill ride.
[9]
Tim de Reuse: The earnestness on display bears fruit during the cute little “what chu doin”s of the pre-chorus, but outside of that the whole affair is overstuffed, dull and wet, with production that seems casiocore-ish not out of intent but out of apathy.
[5]
Jonathan Bradley: With enthusiastic gang shouts on their hook and a pop-emo crunch that sounds like AFI via a K-pop training camp, Day6’s rock is energetic rather than elephantine, and all the better for it. The video game sound effects are an accent both welcome and fitting.
[6]
Ryo Miyauchi: Boys with guitars moping over unrequited love: oh, I heard this before. Vacant music for “atmosphere”? Strained sighs like they can’t keep their head up? Nope, try agai– [Power riff kicks in the chorus] Oh wow, I can’t believe I’m falling for this again. And are they starting a chant in the back? Yes, give me more.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: It starts out like a breezy, male-sung K-pop tune, gathering intensity as it proceeds, until the chorus goes all anthemic-guitar-band-playing-glitchtronica. And I’ll never say no to that.
[7]
Alfred Soto: Until the staccato chorus, whose buzzing synthesized dynamics recall the Rentals’ “Friends of P,” it’s hard to hear past the power chords.
[4]
Iain Mew: Rock caught on the fence between sleek and shiny production and attempts at gritty power; it’s only the times they dump the latter that it does more than pound away ineffectually.
[5]
Ramzi Awn: The undeniable momentum behind this seamless single underscores both harmony and melody at the same time. The guitars are blended well and there is a creative groove to the vocals that achieves texture without overproduction.
[6]
Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa: The combination of elements is not new– smooth boy-band vocal harmonies, synthy verses with jazzy chord progressions, and a chorus soaring with pop-punk magic — but oh my, what a clean, virtuous execution. It’s the kind of song i was always expecting groups like Softengine to pull off, but the clarity in the songwriting is Day6’s own. And they keep getting better.
[8]