Girl’s Day gets good again, Crayon Pop remains free of all flaws
It’s been easy to compare rookie flops Crayon Pop with eternal b-listers Girl’s Day up until now. Crayon Pop essentially debuted as the K-mart version of Girl’s Day with their divine single “Saturday Night”, completely jacking the group’s comedic aegyo and entire “Oh My God” concept without qualm. It worked, positioning Crayon Pop as the most stupidly entertaining new girl group of the year, while Girl’s Day completely nosedived by making a disappointing comeback after a severely lengthy hiatus.
Both groups returned this past week, and I’m happy to say that they’re both back in top form. Girl’s Day got its mojo back thanks to a musical makeover, while Crayon Pop continues to be the most defining girl band that the world has ever known.
The new Girl’s Day single “Don’t Forget Me” is a big synthy electropop jam that sits right in-between the sound of the group’s edgy pre-fame flop “Nothing Lasts Forever” and their aegyo-driven hits like “Hug Me Once” and “Don’t Let Your Eyes Wander”. It’s not their strongest song to date (keep in mind, Girl’s Day at its best is like an 11 outta 10), but it’s definitely a step in the right direction and exactly the kind of song that they should have released instead of “Oh My God”.
The concept for “Don’t Forget Me” is definitely a new one for Girl’s Day. It’s contemporary chic with a splash of sophisticated sex appeal (that sounds like a perfume commercial, doesn’t it?), with the group ditching its old cartoonishly cute style for a cleaner, more grown up look. It marks a fresh new energy for Girl’s Day after the departure of Jihae, whose absence has actually done nothing to hurt them overall. The last time we heard from Jihae she had mysteriously vanished due to “health reasons” and then popped up on Twitter with a new nose, so now that the future Park Bom is gone for good, Girl’s Day can rightfully take their spot as one of K-pop’s prettiest idol groups.
Onwards and upwards, I say!
Now that Girl’s Day has decided to be all tasteful and shit, Crayon Pop has done the inevitable and stepped in to take their place as K-pop’s funniest girl group.
Their new disco-tinged comeback single “Dancing Queen” doesn’t touch the iconic “Bing Bing”, but once you’ve seen them perform it live you’ll be so slayed that you won’t even care how their music sounds. Clad in ugly beanies and hideous cafeteria lady tracksuits that they stole from 5dolls, Crayon Pop get their kung fu panda on and bounce around the stage like a bunch of badly-dressed energizer bunnies. It’s a riot to watch, and because the members are actually talented dancers, it’s more legitimately amazing than simply “so bad it’s good”. This isn’t the first time that Crayon Pop has taken the art of dance to dizzying new heights: the kangaroo choreography from “Saturday Night” still remains the best thing since sliced bread, especially when you do it while wearing a large backup.
Just call Crayon Pop the female PSY!
A lot of girl groups have tried gimmicks to stand out this year (AOA pretending they’re angels, FIESTAR’s party concept, Gangkiz’s everything), but Crayon Pop has stood out the most. Their ability to shamelessly copy everyone and then make it completely their own and still utterly amazing at the same time is brilliant.
We can only pray that “Dancing Queen” cracks the GAON top 100 so the legendary Crayon Pop can continue to rain flawlessness over your faves. Life simply won’t be worth living if these girls disband. You know it, and I know it.
