Golden Child had a busy 2021, and 2022 kicks off with their official Japanese debut. When this was first announced, I was both surprised and excited. Their charms feel well-matched to the J-pop market, and with fantastic producer Funk Uchino onboard, the possibilities seemed bright. Then, A Woo‘s teaser premiered and my expectations tempered. Would Golden Child really be releasing their most generic boy group bop as their first foray into Japan?
Well… yes. But, it turns out that generic Golden Child is still pretty satisfying. I enjoy A Woo more than I expected (and probably more than I should). The song takes many of the turns that tend to annoy me, from its droning, sing-talk verses to the annoying wolf howl that punctuates the chorus. Yet, the whole is greater than those problematic parts. At this point, I’m not sure if it’s simply the group’s charm pulling me through. But then again, I didn’t care for DDARA.
Here’s the thing. A Woo doesn’t take advantage of Golden Child’s greatest strengths. It could have been performed by anyone. Their personality doesn’t poke through in any meaningful way. From this standpoint, it’s a rather forgettable and confusing debut. However, it’s also well-constructed and executed. Apart from the gimmicky “a woo’s,” the chorus hits with a brittle funk that’s very successful. And contrary to expectation, I love the blustery post-chorus. The verses may be a little atonal for my taste, but they’re held together by a consistent beat and energy. A Woo actually makes a great pairing with DRIPPIN’s recent Villain. Both are generic but sturdy, and likely to wear well with time.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
kinda sounds like trcng’s ‘wolf baby’ except cheaper, which makes sense since both are wolf-inspired (complete with imitations of the sounds wolf make hehehehe)
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A WOO!!!
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if it isnt made obvious i think ‘wolf baby’ is the better wolf song and i sorely miss trcng, they had so much potential and urgghh TS Ent is just a flat-out horrible company
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I’m with you there, both the song and (especially) missing TRCNG.
It’s still a mystery how a company like T.S Entertainment is still around. I know there was a rumour last year of the company closing down but after seeing the company’s Twitter account still posting birthday posts for their artists… *sigh
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Interesting because we already got our TRCNG and Golcha crumbs because Hayoung (LUKE of 13 team) of TRCNG is credited for Fanfare😅
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Oh yeah you’re right KXXEO! What a coincidence we’re talking about Golcha and TRCNG in the same thread 😂
Ahh I remember finding out about Luke and I got super excited for hearing any activity from TRCNG, especially knowing he works with team 13 (albeit lyrically from what I can tell but it’s still really awesome)!
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Yes! He mainly does lyrics but he is also apparently a topliner for the song Runway from Produce Japan S2 which is a great song btw!
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You’re right in both regards. Wolf Baby remains superior, but both are silly fun.
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Yes! And I wish they would have pursued the crazy the way TRCNG did, but it’s still a classy version of a fairly batshit crazy song.
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Weird Golcha is still better than 90% of Kpop.
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I just playlisted all but a couple of TRCNG’s songs and googled them and made myself sad. So thanks for that, both genuinely and sarcastically.
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Think this is the first time I have hard disagreed on a golcha track, stopped listening to the song after the first post chorus and don’t plan on coming back to it.
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course I didn’t care for ddara much either but this one definitely hit more of my no buttons
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Oh, I totally get it. I was expecting to hate this and I’m still a little baffled that I actually enjoy it! That could always change, but for now I’m bopping along despite so many of those red flags popping up.
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Glad you were able to enjoy it Nick, I am really hoping for a return to the golcha I love for their next kr release!
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This song has me reaching for “pithy things my kids say”, except this one doesn’t even get that verbal treatment, it gets the patented teenager nonplussed shrug. Kid, what do you mean by that, is that shrug good or shrug bad or shrug meh? To which the answer these days is always “Yes?”.
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I really like the post-chorus, but I’m not sure about the rest of it. I like my bluster to be more obnoxious.
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It grows on you, but i wish they would have pushed it harder like Wolf Baby, or even something like the Boyz Thrill Ride. The video even pulls its punches.
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Eh, I wasn’t super fond of Thrill Ride – it’s too reliant on filler rap for my taste although I admit the hook is catchy AF. I just listened to “Wolf Baby” for the first time and it’s pretty great though.
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First time I heard the chrous in the song I didn’t like it, but the ending does finish big and I got sucked into it. I like hearing the vocal members rap as well. But I hope this is a one-off, and not something Golden Child releases in the future (especially when many of their other songs would work greatly in J-pop)
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So much fun!
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