Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
B-Side playlist? Late?? Well, I never. A travesty. Platitudes, excuses. There were so many idol releases this month, it was actually genuinely difficult to keep up with them all?? I think I burnt out. Last month I said there were a lot of idol releases and that June was going to be even more flat-out, and I was right. Anyway, here’s some of my favourite b-sides from the last month.
Twice – “Sweet Summer Day”
This has the best 2nd-gen k-pop vibes, I like it so much and I have listened to it so much that I actually got sick of it at one point before coming back around to it.
WJSN – “Pantomime”
This song really reminds me a lot of Dal Shabet’s really early tracks, particularly “Pink Rocket” – similar vibes, a similar level of sonic almost-chaos but properly restrained in this track’s case.
IZ*ONE – “Merry-Go-Round”
So, technically IZONE have promoted this song on music shows, but my criteria is if it’s not the track with the MV and a dance practice then it still counts as a b-side – and this is just my favourite track off the mini.
Super Junior-K.R.Y – “The Way Back To You”
Alright, so this song is a bit Disney soundtrack – which isn’t really an insult, because Disney have some absolute fucking bangers (thanks @ Alan Menken particularly) – but it’s adorable. This song is instant serotonin, which a grumpy hag like me really appreciates. Also I cannot believe how long it took for KRY to have an album.
Nature – “B.B.B (Never Say Good-Bye)”
Summer 2020 girl groups reign supreme – we’re all getting our cute girl group needs fulfilled, and I love the chorus of this song so much.
Seventeen – “Together”
Okay, so, this one is difficult for me. Seventeen are my favourites, and I love “Left & Right” so much, and I really like the album overall but I found it hard to pick a standalone b-side that really stood out to me. I think “Together” is the best fit and I do genuinely really like it, but I don’t think this is their best b-side ever.
Stray Kids – “Pacemaker”
I tried with this album, I really did. I like this one the best?
Weki Meki – “Moya Moya”
This is a B O P. Give me every single fun girl group summer track tbh, I’m absolutely living for them.
Golden Child – “OMG”
Of all the idol albums I listened to during June, Golden Child’s was the biggest surprise for me – mostly because I’ve somehow managed to not listen to Golden Child up until the point I sat down to check this one out. I love the whole thing so much – it’s so solid and consistent, which for me is something a lot of idol albums suffer from a lack of, which makes repeat listenings hard to achieve (again, just for me).
WOODZ – “NOID”
I tweeted last month about finding a way to put WOODZ on both my playlists for this month, and because I make the rules I decided it was fine. You all know how easy I am for over-dramatic idol tracks.
Hwasa – “WHY”
If I can sum up this album, and Hwasa in general, it would be: drama. She sounds great on this one.
And that’s it! Feel free to leave anything you think I missed in the comments, and I’ll see you next month for another round of idol b-sides. Look after yourselves and each other.
