The Boyz are releasing their second full album in parts, starting with a collection targeted at bright summer sounds. I’ve been waiting for the group to return to this style for years. 2021’s Thrill Ride had the imagery right, but Lip Gloss nails the sound.
I love when K-pop groups don’t take themselves too seriously. Lip Gloss is an unabashed piece of candy floss, catchy and upbeat and more than a little campy. Its insistent roller-rink-ready bassline will have your head nodding immediately, but the song takes flight during its bridge when a thrilling house beat enters the mix. On first listen, I was annoyed that Lip Gloss opted for an anti-drop immediately after this segment, but the racing tempo returns for a chanted post-chorus. The lyrics are a little on the nose, but that’s in keeping with the track’s inherent silliness. And as a fun connection, it seems Bias List favorite from20 had a hand in composing this chorus! How’s that for an unexpected crossover?
Refreshingly, Lip Gloss‘s producers came to their senses and realized the best placement for a tempo-shifting breakdown is during the song’s bridge. This approach is so much more rewarding than an awkward second verse breakdown. Its placement late in the track offers a nice shot of spice to offset all the sugar. And speaking of sugar, I’ll be playing Lip Gloss in tandem with Travis Japan’s very similar Candy Kiss for a double summer shot of effervescent pop. You really can’t go wrong with this fun, upbeat energy.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 9 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
This comeback really has made me so happy. Was losing hope that my favorite group would release music that i can enjoy and with this comeback they’ve release a total of 4 songs I’ll definitely be coming back over and over again. Fantasize is my favorite! But i love love Passion Fruit and Fire Eyes too.
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same top 3 for me! the album is so good, I hope the 2 remaining parts match the quality of this one.
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meh… in theory i should love this song but the vocal delivery is so mediocre that i cant bring myself to play it more than once
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Woah that is an unexpected high rating for my favourite group. That makes me happy lol.
For me, everything about this song is great except the chanting.
Although THE BOYZ are incredible performers and suit the darker concepts extremely well, they shine more when they are given brighter, fun songs.
8.75/10 for me
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Not gonna lie… I disliked the chanting on first listen. But, the instrumental behind it is so great that it quickly won me over.
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I won’t lie either. It’s grown on me.
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amazing title track for an amazing album. seems like their A&R team got their shit together, for 1/3 of their upcoming album at least. Passion Fruit, Fantasize and Fire Eyes could easily be title tracks if they were in different albums.
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Passion Fruit is what I wished Cream Soda would sound like…
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resident deobi here idkkkkk i like it (kinda feels like dancing till we drop on steroids) but it wasnt rlly hitting me the way i hoped it would. maybe itll grow on me w repeat listens but until then roar still clears
(also im sorry but i cannot take that music video seriously whatsoever like i need to know who on tbzs a&r team took a look at their gay bitchless asses and thought “hey lets make them go after a random white girl”)
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I’m not sure it’s supposed to be taken seriously lol
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ok it just keeps getting better and better every listen wow
ranking so far:
1. FIRE EYES (i genuinely have no words for this one like. holy shit just listen for urself)
2. fairy tale (their late 00s early 10s pandora indietronia young blood by the naked and famous serve)
3. tie between fantasize (would have been perfect if the chorus was more fleshed out) and lip gloss
4. passion fruit (the beat on this one WOOWWWWW….just wish there was more of a song on top)
5. lighthouse (the only miss on the album tbh like was that outro necessary…..amazing bridge tho!)
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The chorus felt a bit flimsy at first, but I started enjoying it out of nowhere. The chanting is probably my FAVORITE part of the song because it brings an energy that was missing from the song.
Without a doubt TBZ’s best title track in nearly three years.(though Maverick is a bit of guilty pleasure…)
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I actually really like the chanting too! It’s exactly the thing I like to sing along to haha
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I actually paused Bad Revenge to listen to this! The Boyz have yet to top the absolute euphoria of D.D.D. for me, but this is a blast and will sound great on summer roadtrip playlists. I love the almost talkbox-y instrumentation that rushes in midway through the verses.
The rest of the songs are really solid too – I love the rubbery synth bass on Fire Eyes.
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so many 9 rated songs recently? the boyz coming back?
the world is HEALING
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Alright alright I am not going to overthink it. Bright happy clappy pop music with a ton of energy.
Parts of this song remind me of “Runaway” from SuJu’s Black Suit era, which means that whatever the Boyz fan club called should expect serious fun with the live set.
‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC-S6yIUZy8
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Ooh, now that you mention it! I love Runaway, so that tracks.
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TBZ REDEMPTION ARC!!!!!!
Fantasize is pretty great too.
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This is super cute…I feel like I’m watching the end credits to a teen summer movie!
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That’s the exact feeling I had in the mv when the main song is finished and it comes back for the dance showcase!
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it feels kind of like an old nct dream track which I looooovee
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It looks like we’re finally getting some real summer tracks lately!
Yeah, I love this. It’s so fun and upbeat and the MV is so silly.
I went through a huuuge The Boyz phase at some point and it’s great to see them back with a song I really like again.
My one complaint is the vocals – they sound absolutely buried in layers and production. Come on now! These guys have some vocal prowess, there’s no need to overproduce this hard. The layering does suit the style of the song, but I’d like to hear their distinctive voices a little more clearly.
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Also the song theme is very fitting since nowadays lipstick is //out// and lip gloss is back!
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These guys are like an off-brand EXO.
Though, they don’t have the vocals to compare.
Or the music.
It always sounds like something is missing with these guys.
Their music is ‘passable’ but not something I could see myself revisiting.
I wish they had a LMR or CMB that could hook me, but they just don’t.
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if u think abt it this is basically the bg version of wjsns boogie up
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why the fuck are other companies trying to emulate hybe’s shitty vocal processing? it won’t magically make their groups chart and it makes any song unlistenable. this one isn’t catchy or interesting enough to make me want to listen to the full thing despite of it. how this got a 9 but fighting only an 8 is insane.
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im so fkn glad the boyz have broken out of the bad music curse and gave us their bright summery sound of their earlier eras. i give it an 8.75 just to be safe, but i suspect this will be a grower
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IDK but ROAR was a wake up call for me
it’s a very good song with amazing sound and interesting melody
while this is summer song #39292992929
i was never fan of pure summer songs and I’m not a fan of seasonal or holiday theme songs in general
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As an Aussie I’m loving the whole vibe of the album, Christmas during Summer is overrated.
Loving the song and mini overall, my bside picks are passionfruit and fantasize
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underrated* ;-;
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The first song I heard from The Boyz was “Thrill Ride” and I loved it. This one is even better! If I hadn’t seen the MV, I would give it a 10 but I’m sorry, the storyline is so unbelievable that I cannot let it pass😂!!! 9.5/10
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This is such fun. It’s light. It’s silly. It’s bopalong fun.
My daughters described the MV as High School Musical meets Madagascar 🙂
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Been a while since The Boyz had a title track this good… sounds amazing with headphones, the synths and that beat, the post-chorus, easy 9
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Someone else above mentioned EXO, and I’d love to hear EXO’s vocals (circa Mama, History) on this tune; it would really strengthen the Queen vibes over the Another One Bites the Dust groove. As it is, this is in the 8 range for me.
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