You don’t need to ask us the first time if you wanna pop. Pop off queens!
Perhaps my age is a symptom of my dwindling excitement for new releases compared to previous years because seriously I don’t think there has been that many K-pop songs this year that stuck with me. I saw nugupromoter on Twitter shared this new girl group’s tweet teasing their debut and then hearing the highlight medley released a few days after… I was cautiously excited.
A song like Pop? Pop! would have lost its way amongst the 2016-17 girl groups, especially coming out of the gates of an unknown company. Fortunately this works in CSR‘s favour greatly because this kind of cute and catchy pop is almost a novelty in 2022. It follows a simple structure that prioritises melody. Hearing the propulsive mix of squeaky synths, percussions and guitars matching with the girls’ much higher vocals is such a treat. The emphasis on the electro beats and electric guitars in the post-chorus alteranting with the girls’ onomatopoeic phrase is such a fun tease for the bridge as well as acting as a good breather for the next chorus. The key change(!) in the final chorus is just the cherry on top. I will never get tired of those kind of tricks in music.
As of writing this, the mini is not on Spotify yet (28th July at 6pm KST) but you bet I will loop the heck out of this song. I got a good feeling about the longevity on Pop? Pop!.
Composed by: Kim Jin Hwan
Arranged by: Kim Jin Hwan
P.S. CSR’s Sweetune b-side did NOT disappoint.
Header Image Source: Official CSR Twitter
Fool With Thoughts 
This song is quite a strong Loveleyz/Gfriend song. While the chorus is really strong, the verses win for me. Seriously, this year is for the under-the-radar groups in K-Pop! Glad to see you back Haruko!
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Yeah! Lots of under-the-radar groups shine a lot this year in K-pop :D
And thanks for the warm welcome. I haven’t been motivated to do anything these past months but I got so happy listening to CSR’s debut that I had to write a review for it!
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Trust me, I know the feeling!
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I almost cried listening to this song. Lovelyz and Gfriend are some of my favorite groups of all time so seeing their sound be revived through CSR makes me so happy 🥲
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I feel you :,)
It’s truly the best feeling when you hear something so good and filling in the gap that not a lot of girl groups do musically.
Do you have any favourite bsides in CSR’s debut mini?
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