Boy group MYTEEN made their debut one year ago before quickly disappearing from the K-pop landscape. A few of the guys took place in YG’s failed survival show MIXNINE, but the group remains in a perilous place. Rookies are a dime a dozen these days, and without constant promotion it’s difficult to break into the big leagues. Still, it’s hard not to root for the underdog, and MYTEEN have thus far shown a welcome versatility.

The guys switch it up again with She Bad. While last year’s Amazing took on a funky, Seventeen-esque pop style, Bad shifts their sound to a moodier place. If only they didn’t try to shoehorn in every overused trend from the past few years. In the space of three and a half minutes, we’ve got tropical house synth squiggles, lumbering future bass and a deep house chorus to round it all out. Any one of these elements would have been enough to elicit eye rolls, but all three together combine to create a track with very little originality.

To be fair, not much in pop music is original, so She Bad‘s familiarity doesn’t instantly render it null and void. Its chorus is catchy enough, built upon the group’s compelling falsetto. And MYTEEN sounds more polished and confident than their rookie status might suggest. It’s a shame, then, that its forgettable verses are all over the place, making it difficult for Bad to gain momentum. Ultimately, the song spends more time pandering to trends than establishing a melody or hook worth falling for.

~