Cherry Bullet have made a habit of returning exactly once a year with a song that gains many admirers but never quite breaks them into a new level of success. This is FNC Entertainment’s fault more than anything. Unless you’re BLACKPINK, you can’t expect much from once-a-year comebacks. The group has been around for four years, but their small discography wouldn’t suggest so.
P.O.W! (Play On the World) is a mouthful of a title and perfectly describes the overstuffed energy found within. The song reminds me of K-pop’s girl group landscape two years ago, when everyone was trying to ape the early-ITZY sound. Its verses have a thumping Dalla Dalla sheen. They’re delivered with plenty of excitement, but this style of brash sing talk is an unwelcome return. I just can’t get into it.
The track attempts to do something interesting during its chorus, enlisting the help of a pounding dance beat that elevates the tempo and crafts an almost droning energy. Unfortunately, the melodies here are just as obnoxious as the verses. The girls deliver cheesy “that’s what I want!” exclamations like they’re Veruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And rather than embrace the more idiosyncratic elements of this hook, the song devolves into siren-like silliness that belies the potential found in last year’s Love In Space. With their quota of comebacks (presumably) used up for 2023, I worry that a track like P.O.W feels like a step backward for a group who could really use their own signature song.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
Grade: C-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I like it. The first part of the chorus is great
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I think this is their attempt at a LOVE DIVE-like song… I liked how chaotic it was, honestly. obviously, not as good as Love In Space which was phenomenal.
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I’m not getting the love dive comparison. The structure is messy and none of the song’s moods are touching those of love dive with a 10ft pole
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I meant the anti-drop chorus + post-chorus, not the actual quality of the song
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I had the exact same thought as Nick “this sounds like it was made 2 years ago”.
I adored Love So Sweet and many of their other songs are pretty good too. I just don’t see the need for bringing back this type of scattered, visionless girl crush when the group’s niche is more in tune with todays trends anyways.
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I thought we were over the itzy stuff. I wish they kept the vibe of the prechorus in the verses.The part that Haeyoon delivers in the first verse also sounds very familiar. Cherry bullet aren’t the worse idol group rappers but I wish they ditched it in this song completely;it mostly does nothing for me.
I like that the first prechorus is kinda a fake out with the r&b part right before it seeming
to be the pre chorus.
I really like the chorus;I just wish they built upon it. Especially at the end of the song, I was praying for an extended chorus or at least an outro.
Cherry bullet is a group I really want to love but they need to increase their input. They can’t just give us what feels like an unfinished song and then disappear (I can’t tell if I actually like the b sides or if I’m glad to get complete thoughts). Love in space was my favorite song of last year so this is pretty disappointing
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Horrid, sounds like something Kep1er would make and a major disappointment for Cherry Bullet
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My first thought was that this sounded just like Wa Da Da.
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I am hearing glitter sparkle pony rainbow poop slime advertisement in the shape of a girl crush kpop song.
Catchy though, as I only listened twice and I know the hook =just like a good commercial should song like=
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Hmm.. I’m not against sing-talk or Dalla Dalla revivals, but this song doesn’t do it for me. For most of the song, the instrumental is just…so empty. It puts all focus on the sing-talk, which is not on its own interesting or pleasant to listen to.
The chorus is a vast improvement, but it’s not a total knock-out. I’m not convinced that this is what they want. If you want to do exclamations like that you have to deliver them with cheerleader level energy. Maybe I’m nitpicking at this point, but this is not a download for me.
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Probably my least favorite song from the group. This type of loud, girl-crush concept just doesn’t fit them at all, but at least the album songs sounded really promising. This comeback is their highest first week sales ever and it’s set to be their highest selling, so hopefully that’s an incentive for their company to stop giving them only 1 comeback a year. I feel bad for the girls, they have so much potential!
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Aaaaaah, I was so disapointed. Why they chose this concept rap/screaming when they have 2 strong vocalists >_< I wanted a great melody! Girl-crush concept should forbidden.
They're are beautiful in the MV otherwise…
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It’s pretty fragmented.it could be at least three decent songs.
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Surely this song was written for Bugaboo.
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I could see bugaboo doing this. RIP I really liked pop
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Wasn’t very happy with this title track, literally any of their B-sides on this EP blew this out of the water
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So sad to Cherry Bullet limping along like this. After a great debut and a couple of solid recent tracks this sounds like a Class:y song. A shame, as a group they’ve got all the right ingredients but are being handled so badly by FNC.
I swear losing those early members, having a poor debut follow-up, then being sidelined by a surprisingly resurgent post-Queendom AOA just hobbled them so badly. Bingle Bangle was surely meant for CheBul and while it might not have been a hit for them it could have given them some of their momentum back.
They deserve better, especially Bora.
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