Review

Song Review: CRAXY – Poison Rose

Posted on by 18 Comments

CRAXY - Poison RoseCRAXY released music video after music video in September, most of which I didn’t cover in detail. I’m not sure where their agency is getting the funding for all this promotion, but I wish they’d pool the money together and give us another song as fun as 2020’s Aria. Instead, they’ve churned out Poison Rose, which trades in horror-show musical tropes that have become more and more common among K-pop idol groups.

Originally scheduled for release on Halloween, Poison Rose makes more sense as a soundtrack to that holiday. It has the lurching, vaguely spooky energy many listeners crave in October. Unfortunately, this type of song doesn’t enjoy much longevity unless its musical bones are sturdy and memorable. Poison Rose has style to spare, but lacks substance. It feels like a performance piece – something producers would cobble together quickly for the concept round of a competition series.

Look, if you write about K-pop songs every day you’re bound to notice more similarities than a casual listener might. A track like Poison Rose is difficult to expound upon because it’s essentially a copy of so many other songs. We’ve got sing-songy, haunted house melodies, creepy piano, trap beats and vocal fry. None of these elements are all that fun or compelling, giving Poison Rose a dirge-like quality – especially during that awful second verse. And although the girls sing quite often throughout the track, the melodies are surprisingly… unmelodic. I’m not even sure how to explain it. There’s just nothing to grab hold of. Nothing catches the ear.

Hooks 6
 Production 7
 Longevity 7
 Bias 6
 RATING 6.5

Grade: D

18 thoughts on “Song Review: CRAXY – Poison Rose”

  1. Feels like they were going for their PIXY – “Bewitched” moment with this one, (original) Halloween release date, same producer on the track even. Neither of which I have any gripes with. But it’s definitely a subpar execution of the former. I’ve check out some of their dance practices reacently, and was very impressed by their danceability and performance skills, but it definitely seems like an unorganized/inexperienced company is holding them back.

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  2. I agree with CELLA above, it sounds like a lesser PIXY Bewitched copy cat, with flavors of wannabe Dreamcatcher. Also, during the chorus, I was singing along Taylor Swift “trouble trouble trouble”. The song doesn’t match the visual – the video tries to be all Halloween menacing. The song is not menacing at all, almost could be about anything.

    Plus a half point for someone actually playing that piano opening riff. Minus a full point for the riff never appearing again. Minus a full point for those damn rap triplets (at 0:42). I am at the point where I shall call them lazy ass rap triplets. 123 – 456 – 789 – 10.
    With all that math, yeah, rating is about right.

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  3. Umm.. ..this is actually a really good song. I mean.. ..it probably won’t win any awards, but it’s cohesive and fully fleshed out. The music may be a bit sparse, but there are enjoyable elements that are repeated and a few one shot additives to spice things up. The singing isn’t over the top, but it’s at least melodic where it needs to be. I also liked the rap break, which is usually the one part that makes me groan.

    I once asked you if you’re placing the weight of the entire industry on the shoulders of a single release. If you’re going into a song with weight of a 101 peeves weighted around your neck like a rusty boat anchor. I think you may have done that on this one. Don’t get me wrong, I share all of the frustrations you list when you bring up the duplicity, tired tropes, and the never-ending trends. In all my years of being elbows deep in this genre, I still get unnerved during rap breaks; unless they can pull them off.

    Well, this one didn’t land with you and that’s fair. Myself? Yeah, it’s a keeper.

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    • Sure, somehow it still hangs together as an entity that can be called “song”, despite being a weird hybrid of the new sound and old sound.

      For me, I just can’t get past the “Ring around the rosie” (or “roses”) part. I’ve listened to the song 4 of 5 times now, and that is enough for me.

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      • That’s fine. We all receive music differently. Given the chaotic, kitchen sink, “put it all in a blender” methods of recent song creation, I may be overly grateful when a song comes my way that at least is delivered in a single contiguous framework. You know.. ..a start, a middle, and an end; in that order. As I said, I don’t think this song is God’s proof that he exists, but it has fewer devils in the details. To each their own.

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      • Wait.. ..the “Ring around the rosie” (or “roses”)” part?!?

        Are you confusing my comment on this song (Craxy), with the other review (ICHILLIN)?

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        • Alrighty, um, so yes OK, this song here from _Craxy_ does also hang together as a song. It has clear start-middle-end verses choruses etc. No blender was involved in the making of the song.

          For me, the absence of bad does not mean that it is necessarily good, it just means that it is not bad. If I were generous, I might rate this one a flat 7.

          For me, after so many years of hearing them, my body has a visceral reaction to those damn flippin rap triplets bumbumbum bumbumbum bum (beat), bumbumbum bumbumbum bum (beat), usually intoned with a fakoh deep voice to make it sound impressive. I just can’t …

          … I mean, darling daughter just finished marching band season, and the rhythms that the drums could layer upon layer was fantastic. And then we get subjected to basic minus rhythm which has zero creative energy or performance challenges, its a big ugh for me.

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      • I have to say that this is just a song not a “song”. Is it an ultra, mega deluxe, amazing, life-changing song? no. But it’s still a song

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    • A little background on how I post here. When I get Nick’s e-mail on a new release, I read the review and, if I haven’t already seen it, I go watch the music video. I “try” to make it a two part process where I watch the video and listen to the music, then replay the video and listen with my eyes closed. On some songs, I never make it to the second part. On some.. ..I don’t even make it through the first part.

      Then I write up my comments in Windows Babelpad, then come here, copy and paste, submit. Then I go back and read any comments left by others. I don’t like to read the other comments before I’ve made my post because I don’t want to be swayed. Sometimes, I find others share my opinions and it’s nice, but it doesn’t mean I got it right. Other times it seems nobody agrees with me. Again, that’s fine, but it doesn’t mean I got it wrong. This time, I appear to be the odd duck. To that I say, “Quack!”

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  4. Personally I like it more than some of their official releases like undercover.i do agree that I wish they lived up to their name and kept the music crazy, even if that meant we would get less mvs. I’m glad that a rookie group like them are putting out more content than blackpink ever will, but they hooked me in with one really good song not a plethora of decent/fine tracks.

    Also, aren’t the CEOs of their company a rich Indonesian husband and wife duo?

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  5. Surprise, surprise, I like this release. I’m probably too used to the mix-and-match approach in K-Pop, that even if this feels performance-y, it sounds interesting enough to keep me invested.

    And contrary to you, i like the second verse!

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  6. I think the song is fine overall.
    But I can’t help to think that is has a lot of similarities to Deja Yvi by ATEEZ… anyone else feels the same?

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