Funny enough, “woo!ah!” is the sound I made when I first heard Rollercoaster‘s teaser. My opinion on woo!ah!’s music has varied dramatically over the years, hitting an all-time low point with June’s cloying Danger. Now, the group has taken a confident step in the retro synth direction. Regardless of the results, you’ll always find me lined up early at the “retro synth” stall. I can’t seem to get enough!
Rollercoaster comes courtesy of producer Collapsedone, well known for his work with fromis_9 and Twice (among many others). As expected from his girl group repertoire, the track has a giddy energy. This is pop fluff at its absolute fluffiest, and makes a surprisingly great fit for woo!ah!. If I had it my way, we’d remove some of the song’s background chants and a few of the cheesier raps during verse two, but beyond that Rollercoaster knows exactly what it’s doing.
Make no mistake about it: this song is all about its chorus. The verses are serviceable fun, but once Rollercoaster launches into the sugar rush of its centerpiece you’ll be hard-pressed to find a listener who isn’t at least a little won over. The bubbly synths and bounding melody feel like dancing on clouds as rainbows shoot at you from all directions. In other words, it ain’t subtle! From the programmed drum fills to the ascending hook, we’ve entered a colorful K-pop carnival. A little of this ear candy goes a long way, but I’ll gladly take this bright chorus over the finger guns and “rum pum pums” that have taken over many girl group tracks of the past few years.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I am on Team Danger and I still hold fast that it is still their best song and their best title track this year. I will always love weirder shifts and turns in K-pop than saccharine power choruses.
That aside, this song is still irresistible, and god damn that chorus is great. Still unsure which among this or Catch the Stars is the better vocally-driven single they’ve had this year, but this was super refreshing. Should’ve had this in the summer too.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I actually thought the verses and the choruses didn’t link up well. I mean, both verses and choruses were well built, yet I just don’t see them connect with each other.
Also, it’s a pity that this song is unlikely to get hit (in my opinion). I mean every part is well-produced, yet I don’t really hear something new or interesting in any part. Honestly I would say Collapsedone played too safe on this song, which made it feel like something between a b-side and a title.
Don’t get me wrong though, the song is still very good on its own. A big shout out to Collapsedone’s excellent arranging and mastering skills: Layering was well implemented, which allowed the chorus to sound rich instead of loud.
LikeLike
If you have a hankering for some nostalgia, for a kpop girl group sound circa 2018 2019, this here is for you. Enjoy it while it lasts as everyone else seems to be pivoting to a late 90’s R&B.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The chorus sounds a lot like twice’s talk that talk for some reason (idk if it’s just me). Besides that I really enjoyed the song and espically the bridge. It’s a 9/10 for me
LikeLike
Talk That Talk – Twice
Composer(s): Lee Woo-min “Collapsedone”, Like (Mrch)
This is the reason!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I will always defend woo!ah!’s signature sound in Danger, Purple, Bad Girl, etc. That is woo!ah! at their best IMO — I actually think Catch the Stars was a detour for them (a catchy and fun one, but a detour nonetheless!).
HOWEVER, this song is absolute gold. From the teasers, I was worried the verses wouldn’t hold up next to that jaw dropper of a chorus. But they do. And honestly the bounciness and dynamism of the verses inject a bit of the Danger-type woo!ah! sound, which I really love. The contrast is great and expertly sets up the chorus to blow everything out of the water. The pre- and post-choruses are cherries on top of the sweetest sundae of the year, and that bridge and outro is a sweeping one-two punch to close it all out.
I’ll be sitting on this for a bit to make sure I’m not being TOO biased, but as far as I see it Rollercoaster is easily in the top 3 of 2022 KPop.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Holy smokes that pre-chorus and chorus felt good. It hits that nostalgic factor. 9/10 personally, will have to see how it replays
LikeLike
Gosh, this song is a real treat. I got struck by its centerpiece so fucking bad that I was close to having a heart attack, lmao. On the other hand, I fear how it’s gonna age due to the chant-heavy second verse. Still, I enjoy it.
High-8’s for me, too.
LikeLike
Definitely my favorite woo!ah! track. That chorus is euphoric to me. I just wish they had everything around support it better. Reminds me of fri.sat.sun by dalshabet in that regard. Granted, I played that song like crazy when it came out, so clearly not that big of an issue to me lol
LikeLike
I actually don’t think this is even the best “Rollercoaster” in kpop (that honor goes to Chungha), but woo!ah! are still killing it this year
LikeLike
Sounds like a poor man’s Catch the Stars
LikeLiked by 1 person
it’s definitely better than catch the stars and the two songs do retro quite differently
LikeLike
It’s definitely not lol
LikeLike
I love it! “Catch the Stars” 2.0, with a retro back beat.
LikeLike
I’m on Catch The Stars and Danger here, but I LOVE the chorus
8 for me (7, 8, 9, 8)
LikeLike
Yep, I am firmly seated on the Woo!Ah! train and I’m ready to chug along with them through thick and thin. Fortunately, they’re making this ride a pleasurable one; with rolling hills and everything!
If I had one teeny weeny itsy bitsy little issue, it’s that I think the vocals were a little over-processed. Having had many of their previous offerings on repeat, I’ve grown accustomed to their individual voices and I look forward to hearing them in new offerings. This song (Rollercoaster) went a little heavy on the vocal effects. Just my 2p.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This song gives me the same feels as Catch the Stars, After School, and Love Bomb. Been playing it all day, 10/10 now
LikeLiked by 1 person
The synths appeared around the prechorus and stuck around until the end of the song (with a tiny break in the middle rap verse).The moment those synths appeared, it felt exactly like a twice song, which could be good or not so good depending on what you like.
As someone who is in love with the funky pop sound of catch the stars, I loved the sections where the synths were absent, the brief 20 second opening and the rap verse. It had that sound I was looking for, but once the synths appeared, the song sort of switched into something else. Everyone loved the chorus, which is good, but I personally think the synths were a bit too loud, to a point where wooyeon and sora’s voices were competing with the synths. Which made the whole “this was supposed to be a twice song” notion more and more apparent. I’m not saying that every collapsedone song should be funk pop, but I feel like there are 2 songs stuck in this one, one of them has that twice sound to it and the other was something I was looking for. I hope a lot of people liked the synthy chorus and post chorus,since wooah is really really underrated and deserve all the recognition.
LikeLiked by 1 person