GFRIEND - the discography rate ☾ #24

savilizabeths

savilizabeths

she/her









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Smile. You can laugh out loud.
So my heart can be happier.

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8.096

Buddies: 10x4 (@eatyourself, @Serg., @thommyh, @savilizabeths) 9.5x1 (@Slice of Life) 9x4 (@Music Is Death, @KimLippington, @eliminathan, @soratami)
Antis: 6.5x2 (@nikkysan, @aux) 6.75x2 (@M24, @Remorque)
Hosts:
@junglefish: 8.25
@savilizabeths: 10
5 voters: 67
10 voters: 73
15 voters: 65
20 voters: 59
26 voters: 66

Was I really sick or was I just procrastinating eliminating one of my 11 contenders? Who really knows? Okay, actually I really was sick. There is a Super Flu going around which includes some really fun COVID symptoms so it's been an overwhelmingly bad time for me. Today is the best I have felt in quite awhile, but I am still incredibly wiped out and am starting to think I'm going to be exhausted for a bit before I am fully better.

All that aside though.......do I really have to? Look, I requested to write this elimination but if I'm being honest, do I actually want to? Some of you may think ti's strange that I actually considered giving this fluffy little song my 11. I mean, maybe not if you've paid attention to my activities on this forum for the last few years. I gave 'WOW' my 11 in the 3rd Gen Girls rate, I'm not exactly high brow as far as my music tastes go. But I really did consider gifting this song my coveted extra point. I don't even know if I can properly explain why, but I guess I will try considering I now have to write about it.

'Click' was composed by DK (Oh My Girl, SHINee), Hyuk Shin (EXO, Monsta X, SHINee, Odd Eye Circle......Justin Bieber) & MRay, who has the hardest name ever to look up so I have no idea what he's done. It comes from their first studio album LOL and is my absolute favourite song on the album. It makes me genuinely happy to see all the high scores, almost as happy as the song itself makes me. Four 10s?? No scores below 6.5??? It's nice to see some taste being displayed.

PopJustice user savilizabeths, why is it that of all the songs in this incredible rate, you actually almost gave 'Click' your 11? Well...I like fun. I like cute things. Maybe it's that simple. I just get this euphoric rush every time the music builds up and the girls start chanting. It's as if my brain suddenly springs to life and everything in the world is flowers and rainbows. And I don't know about you, but I love flowers and rainbows. I know that songs with these aegyo vibes are not for everyone, and I truly get it. But they are for me and I will live my truth! I feel like this song is quite different from them too. It still fits their soundscape, but it's got this 2000s, groovy vibe that really stands out in their discography. At least to me. They also don't often lean into the cutesy thing quite this much, so maybe that's it. Like the chanting....I love it but I think I can see why you wouldn't. It's definitely on the saccharine side.

Everything about the song works together flawlessly for me. The instrumental is laid back. It's bright and bouncy while also having this relaxed vibe, as if I'm strolling with a slight spring in my step as opposed to running around on a sugar high. It's a warm summer day and I'm strolling through a park, sun peaking through the trees with an ice cream cone in my hand. It's that kind of feeling. Maybe I start skipping a little when the chanting comes on because of the seratonin rush it gives me. Songs like this always make me feel like the world is good again. And the girls just sound so sweet! The song is perfect for Eunha, she sounds so lovely and comfortable in it. Of course, Yuju steals the show too. She shows how amazing good vocals can sound even when they're understated. Her parts just sound gorgeous and smooth and really please my ear. I also have a soft spot for Sowon's very weak vocals here but don't ask me why. Like I said, everything fits together like a puzzle because reading the lyrics fully enhances the joy the song gives me. It's sweet, it's optimistic, it's so hopeful and just makes me want to believe in the good of life and all that.

Okay, so if you actually read all of that then have a gold star. Two other songs were battling it out for my 11, neither of them title tracks. So we'll have to see how long it is before they fall. We will now hear from you guys....I wish you high scorers had left more commentary.

@eatyourself (10) : Jesus Christ this is so good I want to eat it.

@Attis (7.5) : This is very S Club 7 / Spice Girls, isn't it ? Too bad I'm not growing up with these artists so it lacks impact on me

@M24 (6.75) : Very sweet song, I just can't stand the chanting parts. Those are the moments that remind me kpop is usually targeted to teenagers, ugh.

@Wills (7.5) : Shit I already wrote commentary saying Mermaid’s the only dud on the album, lemme bump this score a bit





You're welcome for that last clip. Until next time, and thank you for your patience!​
 
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savilizabeths

savilizabeths

she/her
I am genuinely very happy to see some respect being put to this songs name! Maybe I should have listened to it on loop every day and I would have recovered faster.

Also, sorry if you write up was....all over the place. I hope I did my love for the song justice but my mind is still a little mushy. My intentions are good ddd
 
junglefish

junglefish

he/him
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Can you keep a secret?
A story just between you and me.

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8.125

Buddies: 10x1 (@Music Is Death) 9x3 (@Slice of Life, @soratami, @thommyh) 8.5x3 (@ysev, @junglefish, @savilizabeths)
Antis: 7x3 (@codecat, @aux, @eliminathan) 7.5x3 (@M24, @KimLippington, @cottonpark)
Hosts:
@junglefish: 8.5
@savilizabeths: 8.5
5 voters: 59
10 voters: 62
15 voters: 64
20 voters: 69
26 voters: 65

If I wasn't a buddy and somebody had told me this song was an album track on GFRIEND's debut EP, I would have believed them. It has that slightly dated charm that was part of GFRIEND's DNA in their early days and you know what I'm talking about. That ITNW-era SNSD sound, typical of the early to mid-2000s and super prominent on many, many albums by girl groups of that long gone time.

The reason why it sounds so nostalgic and so familiar is simple! Love Oh Love was actually first recorded after the end of Glass Bead's promotions and then stored somewhere where it accumulated dust until 'Time For Us'. It's kind of a weird choice to add a song that's so representative of a certain time in GFRIEND's career when their style had already evolved a great deal, but it also doesn't sound completely alien. That's probably due to the fact that it was composed by MEGATONE 13, who has worked with the girls many times over the years so while it sounds pretty different from most of the tracks on 'Time For Us', it's kind of a bridge between different eras for the group.

What's really interesting to me is how different Eunha sounds in Love Oh Love. You can hear her true vocal color which is a lot less cutesy than it is today or during most of GFRIEND's career. Her voice sounds deeper, warmer and oh, how I wish she would sometimes go back to it... Not that I dislike the way she uses her voice, I don't! At all! I just feel like it should be used a bit more sporadically dd.

@eatyourself (8) : It sounds a bit like a TV show having their go at a GFriend song. Which is not necessarily bad!

@M24 (7.5) : I can't believe this was an old song from the "Me Gustas Tu" era. It sounds nothing like it to me! Maybe it got a more modern arrangement, and I think it works better that way. Particularly the guitar-led Yuju pre-chorus.. That part is magnificent.

@Wills (7.75) : Cute that they looped back on this sound to close the album, even if it’s one of their weaker takes​

@Cotton Park (7.5) : Okay, what was that little funky breaklet?



​
 
junglefish

junglefish

he/him
Sorry for the lack of updates! I was on vacation and didn’t take my computer with me #selfcare #digitaldetox

After spending two weeks drinking Bellinis on the beach and tanning my bod to a crisp Jesy Nelson-lite color, eliminations are coming this weekend.

In the meantime stream CSR’s Rough cover!
 
junglefish

junglefish

he/him
Okay so my definition of weekend may be a bit loose. Anyway, let's get down to business.















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Someday, when you are feeling down
Just laugh out loud.

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8.163

Buddies: 9.5x3 (@ysev, @Music Is Death, @savilizabeths) 9x4 (@eatyourself, @RUNAWAY, @Slice of Life, @nikkysan) 9.25x1 (@Wills)
Antis: 5.5x1 (@Serg.) 7x1 (@Monado) 7.25x1 (@Vixen)
Hosts:
@junglefish: 8.75
@savilizabeths: 8.5
5 voters: 42
10 voters: 47
15 voters: 56
20 voters: 65
26 voters: 64

Aww I flopped. I really should have given this song a better score, it deserves at least a 9.25 or something.

Someday, from GFRIEND's third EP 'Snowflake' is a deliciously funky little song written by Heuk Tae, who did a much better job here than he did on the previously eliminated My Buddy. I love how the intro makes you think you're in for a classic GFRIEND moment of orchestral midtempo whatever and then shatters it in a few seconds. The synths, the electric guitar, the strings... There's so much going on in this song but somehow it doesn't feel messy or overdone. It's funky, it's a little disco done the GFRIEND way and it works amazingly well.

The girls pretty much all shine vocally here, with Yuju being, as always, the brightest star. I particularly love her part in the bridge, with the beat and the instruments aligning perfectly with her lines. Ugh it's everything and the whole song gives me strong early-Apink vibes. There's something about the production and the structure of the song that is just so them. Believe me, as a certified Pink Panda since I Don't Know, that's a huge compliment.

The song is just as uplifting sonically as it is lyrically, with the girls encouraging someone to forget about their worries and their stress and to just laugh! Laugh like they do in that slightly demented post-chorus, which is another highlight of the song by the way. All in all, it's easily one of GFRIEND's best early album tracks and I wish it had managed to break into the top 60, but oh well. Let's see what you guys had to say about it!

@M24 (7.5) : That chorus bops! I don't give it a higher score just because I find the "let's all laugh haha" post-chorus a bit diabolical.

@Crisp X (8) : The little break at the end is so cute, feels like you’re hearing them perform at (cursed namedrop incoming) Fallon with The Roots as the live band.

@Wills (9.25) : Amazing how these songs all sound the same, but then all have something that genuinely sets them apart – here, it’s how the chorus builds to that euphoric hyuuuuu~​

@thommyh (8) : Has little flashes of sounding overbearingly OST-y, but still very nice.


​
 
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Wills

Wills

he/him
junglefish said:
@Wills (9.25) : Amazing how these songs all sound the same, but then all have something that genuinely sets them apart – here, it’s how the chorus builds to that euphoric hyuuuuu~
@thommyh (8) : Amazing how these songs all sound the same, but then all have something that genuinely sets them apart – here, it’s how the chorus builds to that euphoric hyuuuuu~​
Click to expand...
@thommyh please find a different personality, this one's taken!
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junglefish said:
I really should have given this song a better score, it deserves at least a 9.25 or something.
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junglefish said:
9.25x1 (@Wills)
Click to expand...
Actually you too
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junglefish

junglefish

he/him


I'm sorry I let this thread die but I promise I'm going to make an effort to be more consistent with the eliminations. Those past few months have been weird as hell to be honest so this rate and even the forum in general kinda faded in the background a bit. Anyway, enough with all that, let's get rid of another track.




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Even if you misunderstand it
My heart is still pounding.
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8.192

Buddies: 10x1 (@eliminathan) 9.5x2 (@Slice of Life, @BEST FICTION) 9.25x3 (@RUNAWAY, @vague, @Vixen)
Antis: 6.5x1 (@nikkysan) 6.75x1 (@Wills) 7x2 (@codecat, @Cotton Park)
Hosts:
@junglefish: 8
@savilizabeths: 8.5
5 voters: 57
10 voters: 64
15 voters: 59
20 voters: 62
26 voters: 63

Another Japanese song bites the dust, this time La Pam Pam. First appearing as a b-side on the Japanese release of 'Sunrise', it was later included in the group's full length album, 'Fallin' Light'. Composed by MIO and Momoko, La Pam Pam is one of those upbeat yet melancholic songs the group excels at and one of the highlights of their Japanese discography, which makes it pretty sad that it's leaving already and that its leaderboard journey is serving Mabel chart run. I know I know, my 8 probably didn't help and I'm pretty baffled myself because I've always thought this song was great, so what was going on in my head at the time? I guess we will never know. Moving on.

I'm not 100% positive but the lyrics of the song make me think that the titular La Pam Pam, which is repeated throughout the song, is supposed to mimick the sound of a heart beating. It's an adorable touch but also a worrying one, because if your heart beats that way you may suffer from heart arrhythmia. Please girls, go see a cardiologist! We want you in top shape for when GFRIEND eventually make their grand comeback.

Unsurprisingly, not many of you had things to say about this cute lil song. Still let's make some noise for @M24 (who I'm pretty sure forgot he even participated in this rate) and everybody's favorite Canadussy, @Wills.

@M24 (7.25) : So quintessentially Gfriend title track material! I think I prefer Fallin Light tbh, this seems too similar to some of their korean singles.

@Wills (6.25) : Diet TFTMN. Wait, no – Time For The Moon Lite. There we go!




Next up... A SINGLE!

Place your bets girl.​
 
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junglefish

junglefish

he/him
Okay so nobody got it right and, as much as it pains me to eliminate this song so early, I feel like it's karma for that terrible post of yours @codecat. Without further ado, it's time we say goodbye to...















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We held hands and ran
On top of the messy flower road.
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8.201

Buddies: 10x4 (@codecat, @Attis, @RUNAWAY, @savilizabeths) 9.5x2 (@Slice of Life, @Music Is Death) 9.25x2 (@Wills, @Vixen)
Antis: 5x1 (@Serg.) 6.5x1 (@eliminathan) 6.75x2 (@Cotton Park, @BEST FICTION)
Hosts:
@junglefish: 9
@savilizabeths: 10
5 voters: 36
10 voters: 41
15 voters: 50
20 voters: 56
26 voters: 62

The title track of 'Parallel', Love Whisper was released in a weird time for the group. Having experienced kind of a setback after the release of Fingertip, a song that was very divisive among buddies, Source Music decided to go back in time and try to recapture some of the School Trilogy that made their flagship group a force in the K-Pop industry. Did they manage to do that? In a way, yes. Love Whisper is a bright song that immediatly brings to mind GFRIEND's hit Me Gustas Tu while not sounding as twee as the latter. It successfully incorporates every element that makes the GFRIEND sound and, in my opinion, is a great song. As someone who wasn't enamoured with Fingertip when it was released, seeing my favorite group go back to their roots was all I needed, so I was thrilled. At the time.

Looking back at it now, it's so very obvious that SouMu realized they should have waited a couple more singles before trying to change what had made GFRIEND successful and their attempt at course correcting the group's trajectory feels a bit cynical which, in turns, makes Love Whisper sound a bit hollow. Still, as I said before, it's a great song and definitely not one that should have left already! The production, as expected from Iggy & Yongbae is pristine, the girls sound good and we get some gorgeous moments from Yuju. I also love that dance break moment, infusing the track with some early '00s vibes. That along with Yuju's high note that arrives right after are my favorite parts of Love Whisper.

In the end, was Love Whisper a successful attempt at capturing what made GFRIEND so special? Yes and no. As I said before, it does a great job at being a GFRIEND song, it's only downfall is being released at a difficult time for a group struggling with its identity. Did it at least do well commercially? Well, the song and the corresponding EP ended up selling a little less than Fingertip so, while it wasn't a flop, it wasn't a hit either.

It's difficult to say what would have happened for the group if SouMu had decided to push forward with the new identity they had tried to carve out during the 'The Awakening' era. Maybe they would have managed to get the public on their side again and fill the void left by KARA, maybe not. It's also completely possible I'm just talking out of my ass and Fingertip was always supposed to be a one-off thing followed by a more typical GFRIEND song, but then my writeup would be much shorter.

Do you guys share my feelings for Love Whisper? Let's see:

@eatyourself (7) : I'm not a big fan of this one... This era felt like a poor retread for them and I'm glad they re-released the mini with Summer Rain and Rainbow.

@M24 (8) : My least favorite korean single from them… it's decent, I just feel like the chorus is not that good, only Yuju's parts kind of stop me from falling asleep. The outfits in the MV are a choice.

@Attis (10) : Clearly a course correction, though I won't complain because the song itself is amazing. It's so soothing and purifying.

@Slice of Life (9.5) : FFFFFFFF the way i couldve easily given this a 10 too! It has honestly grown so much on me yath!

Lastly, as a little bonus and just for funsies I went back in time to check what the forum had to say about Love Whisper on release day... Oh boy. Here's a little taste of what I had to deal with at the time!!! Names removed to protect the anonymity of those beasts:

I really like the new video for Me Gustas Tu.

Hmm, that GFriend song is incredibly bland. Let me play Pingatip.

The new GFriend is... a little disappointing to me. I'm devastated about it, but I have hope that it will grow on me soon. It lacks the bombast that all of their singles have had so far that makes them amazing.

I think it'll grow on me but it's not the best of their school girl bops. Rough & Navillera still knock so they didn't really top their best with this one.

This is such a step back for them. I don't mind that they've chosen to revisit their debut sound, but this had none of the excitement of their previous releases.

Love Whisper is boring.

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