Ive – Bang Bang

K-pop group have less to say, but stylishly…

[Video]
[6.33]Claire Davidson: The first verse of “Bang Bang” promises my least favorite kind of K-pop song, with its overblown bass beat, exaggerated trap skitters, and a performance of ironic coyness from Leeseo suggesting a sharp polarity between aggression and self-infantilization that rapidly grates on my nerves. Luckily, the song tampers that obnoxiousness by the time the chorus arrives, at which point it seems to resign itself to a more anonymous approach, coasting on a thin, stuttering synth line and an odd guitar lick to build momentum. This oscillation from overt confrontation to shrinking automation is strange enough, but what’s remarkable about “Bang Bang” is that, despite the roteness with which, say, the group members alternate between uttering the word “Bang” until it loses all meaning, the song still manages to tire, thanks to its astounding inability to ever stay still and build to a real climax. At least “Gnarly,” for as disastrous as its genre pile-up was, bothered to properly accost its listener with an appropriate degree of sensory overload — far more than Ive, in their vow to be “a little bit offensive,” can accomplish here. Even the Anglophone “Bang Bang” went harder than this!
[3]

Andrew Karpan: Found the Good, the Bad and the Ugly mood board riffs more distracting than illuminating; just one of many parts grinding together. Grind. Grind. Grind. Bang. Bang. Bang. It works, of course, but at what cost? To what end?
[3]

Alfred Soto: Allusions to Cher’s “Bang Bang” and Iggy’s “Bang Bang,” surf guitar alluding to “Toxic” — Ive’s track is distillation at its safest.
[6]

Iain Mew: The surf guitar is quite “Sound of the Underground”, which fits with the bit of the video that looks like whatever the Korean equivalent of Canada Water station is. They use it very differently to Girls Aloud though, taking the song along a twisted path with some unexpected melodic bits that they slide into like Poppy. It’s nimble, engaging, and so enjoyable that it can’t be spoiled even by the line “it’s a little bit offensive, yeah I said it”, plastic edgelording flapping uselessly in the wind.
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Kayla Beardslee: Oh my gosh! Don’t you know Ive a savage? Aside from its first verse, “Bang Bang” isn’t actually that reminiscent of Aespa musically, but the general attitude (girl group clangs and bangs and punches their way through a cartwheeling arrangement) is very like Aespa, or any other major fourth gen girl group’s best singles. The members know what they need to do (overpower listeners through either intimidation or sheer appreciation for a good pop song) and they have just the polished instrumental to get the job done. Rei’s spitfire rap is a particular highlight: “talking my [shit], gotta pop my gum” — sure, girl, whatever works for you! “Bang Bang” is easily the best Ive single since “Heya” and “Accendio,” and after an underwhelming run of singles last year, it comes as a much-needed course correction that I hope spells better things for fourth gen girl groups in 2026.
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Nortey Dowuona: Me listening to a beatmaker who is producing for nerdcore rap: is this harder than this song?
Me listening to the beatmaker for this song: yes, this is harder.
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