The odds are stacked against Secret Number’s Doomchita (둠치타) based on its title alone. Tracks with these weird onomatopoeia names tend to be as irritating as their sound effect suggests. Flash back to 2020 and this group had my attention with the effusive Got That Boom. Even earlier than that, their debut suggested a vocal-heavy sound that stood apart from their peers. With Doomchita, they’ve become unrecognizable from the K-pop pack.
At the moment, the industry is severely lacking in musical diversity and new ideas. Heck, the industry is severely lacking in actual songs. Idols don’t often sing anymore. They don’t rap either. They pose and chant to pre-programmed beat drops that all sound the same. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to break this cycle but a song like Doomchita does nothing to distinguish itself. K-pop has always traded in idol worship, so you would think a comeback would be designed to showcase an idol’s personality (ie: the factor that often transforms listeners into fans). After Doomchita has finished playing, I have no idea who Secret Number are. This could have been performed by anyone.
As usual, nothing about this song is objectively awful. From a production and performance perspective, it’s all fine. Things unfold exactly as you’d expect, from the trumpeting hook to the fiery verses to the irritating instrumental loop that opens the track. But, there’s no real joy or excitement to be found here. It’s not something I would ever choose to listen to, especially with a million other singles beholden to the same sound.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
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#StopNoiseMusicTerrorismRightNow
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I’ve listened to one of their b-sides, Hola, and I can’t understand WHY the agency didn’t choose it as a title track, despite the song itself is pretty generic.
Regarding this one, it is AWFUL. I CAN’T STAND THIS NOISE MUSIC TERRORISM ANYMORE. HOW LONG ARE WE GONNA HEAR THE SAME NOISY SHIT LIKE THIS???? FUCK YOU, VINE ENTERTAINMENT!!!!!
Btw, who’s going out with me to burn down the agency’s headquarters? The girls deserved so much better than this…
5/10 for me (5,5,6,4).
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TBH pop or genre itself was generic. In kpop everything sounds the same. what can people expect
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i feel like we are being pranked with these recent songs. is
there someone behind the camera laughing because of this torture we have been going through as of lately? 😭
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Haha it does feel like a coordinated attack!
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Yeah, you got it right, we have to stop this noise music terrorism, we just can’t stand it anymore😠😠😠
I guess the only thing that will make agencies change themselves is to go and burn their headquarters down🤬
Nick, join me, pls, that’s the exact thing I’m gonna do with ’em, if you don’t, you’ll regret it.🥺
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Now calm down, we’re not going to start grabbing our pitchforks. 😅
But, fans can certainly speak with their wallets. No need to stream or buy crappy music, even if it comes from a group you otherwise enjoy. We need to put a crack in this blind fandom support. It’s not healthy for the industry.
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who’s funding this attack, the cia? bcuz it really feels like they’re trying to get people to turn against kpop
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no
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Secret Number? More like.. ..Wrong Number!
I had such high hopes for this group when they debuted. “Who Dis?” was a very welcome addition mid 2020. Each subsequent release has further pushed me to add Secret Number to the “No Call List”. Sadge panda face. 😦
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Who Dis? was so good.. I miss that.
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In related news, the fizzy water I am drinking right now is flavored “blueberry pomegranate”, just another fruity fizzy in the soda aisle.
I wonder if there is an AI bot that some Swede has programmed to crank this shit out. Surely a human was not involved in the composition.
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AI isn’t quite ready to take over yet, this is just a perfect storm of :
* Label executives too scared of losing their job to risk original concepts
* An overabundance of low-skilled music producers/songwriters
* A rapidly growing int’l fanbase with exceptionally low expectations
* Demands by label shareholders to increase share price by whatever means necessary
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This combo is almost more predictable than an algorithm that just churns out songs.
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good info, thanks
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it follows the exact same structure as blackpink’s dddd: intro hinting at the hook, the hook to a stronger beat, more-or-less melodic rap part 1, triplet rhythm rap part 2, lyrical pre-chorus and build-up, title lyric and instrumental drop with random interjections, another “hard-hitting” rap verse… the only difference is that doomchita has a post-chorus
although most songs reuse the pattern, this one was very in the face about it even melody-wise. more knowledgeable folks feel free to correct me, but from the very first second of listening to the song i had this strong association and thus knew exactly where this was going down to the rhythmic division of rap parts, which is insane to me… literally the most uninspired choices
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Bingo. Except DDD also follows the same common pattern and is itself not unique. What makes this and DDDD both sound very YG-like is the double time final chorus, to add excitement, one more time with =feeling=.
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This was just plain terrible , i’m so tired of this noisy shouty mess that is supposed to pass as songs these days , i really liked the majority of their comebacks so far so i had hope this would be another good one , but sadly it isn’t
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yeah… it just sounds like generic noise music. A shame to see them go down this path. Even fire Saturday still had some of what made the group refreshing in the first place, despite its flaws. They didn’t even try to make the style their own. K-pop is really frustrating/disappointing now
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memeM’s even less melodic sister. Both songs feel so devoid of personality and melody, resulting in them having ZERO replay value. There aren’t any hooks that stand out – with the exception of the first half of the bridge, which had a nice chord progression. The chorus’s instrumental feels very thundering and loud, yet not grand or bombastic in the slightest – which I’m assuming is what the producers were going for. This just feels like such a random and odd style for Secret Number to go for, given that they’ve already found a signature sound in Got That Boom – combining brassy loops, powerful vocals, catchy hooks, and an early 2010s pure pop style. It’s just weird? to me that they would do such a 180 out of seemingly nowhere. I can’t imagine their core fanbase enjoying this at all. People like to hate on Everglow but one thing you can’t deny is that when it comes this type of music, Everglow does it WELL! Their melodies are compelling, their production feels fresh, the members personalities feel highlighted, etc etc. Doomdatachafa, while also “girl crush, just feels faceless and like an empty void. I don’t like it at all 😦 It seem as though as soon as Denise left the group, their music quality dipped drastically.
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I am also not a fan of the song… but Nick, just wanted to let you know you linked the MV teaser instead of the MV! (Maybe it’s better that way though, less to listen to…)
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As Greymiza noted, you linked the teaser, though it is better than that chorus.
MAYBE, and I mean MAYBE, Mybrainisonfire could get some enjoyment from it, but as someone who can occasionally appreciate a good noise track, this bleeds my ears…
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whoa, Nick….that is a very low rating for Secret Number’s comeback….i have not listened to it yet, but i will as soon as i am done posting this response….i have always liked Secret Number since their debut, “Who Dis,” which remains my favorite song from them….when they first came out, may – including myself – dubbed them as a group that will be successful in kpop, but for me personally, i have just not seen and heard enough from them….they need to spit out more material, and very good material at that….
you wrote, “At the moment, the industry is severely lacking in musical diversity and new ideas. Heck, the industry is severely lacking in actual songs. Idols don’t often sing anymore. They don’t rap either. They pose and chant to pre-programmed beat drops that all sound the same.”….i feel you there 100%!….no argument at all from me, as i am not even that excited about kpop as i used to be….it seems to be getting watery and gimmicky year after year, with way too many inexperienced and underfunded management agencies debuting groups who are here today and gone the next day….not much feels original anymore and it seems to me, as well, that a lot of the groups and individual idols are not giving it their all anymore….
you asked, “What’s it going to take?”….well, in my humble opinion, stop with the gimmicks, stop allowing inexperienced, underfunded, and fledgling management agencies stop ruining the careers of promising k-idols, and get back to the roots of kpop….
t gumbo
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The M/V link above is wrong, that’s the teaser, although the teaser is already more than I need to hear of this track.
As someone who has had some insight behind-the-scenes regarding K-pop producers and publishers, I’m not at all surprised by the overwhelming torrent of rubbish sound-alike songs coming out this year. Creativity and originality are simply not in vogue anymore, in fact this seems to be discouraged. This is a shame, as I always felt this was one of the original tenets of K-pop.
As a huge K-pop stan, I never thought this could happen but I’ve totally lost interest in catching all the latest releases in recent months. Seriously, why bother when I can fairly accurately predict how these new tracks will sound even before I hear em? Welp, there’s still plenty of classic K-pop tracks to enjoy I suppose.
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Haha I’m surprised it took a whole day for someone to point out the video error. I guess no one actually wants the full song!
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Haters detected!
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Disappointed that we get this after all the fun partying in their previous songs 😦 this is their first release that I don’t like. I feel like they had such a nice concept and direction, and it’s sad that they dropped that…
(B-Side HOLA sounds so nice though, and should’ve been the promoted track.)
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No cuz who produced this and who approved this song
I will give him a slap ;;;;
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they had everything poised to make a great comeback: jinny’s rap, verses that were alright, a kind of cool choreography, a great music video, good performances, and a good b-side, but they had to ruin it with that noisy chorus.
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