I don’t often write “buried treasure” posts for Japanese b-sides, but I almost made an exception for &TEAM’s Dropkick. As fate would have it, HYBE decided to release the song with its own music video and send the guys to promote it on music shows. That’s one hundred percent the correct choice, since Dropkick laps the underdeveloped War Cry in every way.
There’s a barely-alternate dimension where this is one of my favorite songs of the year. With crisper production, less vocal effects and a group more vocal-centric in general (*cough* *Golden Child* *cough*), we’d be talking a mid-9’s rating. After all, the track’s bones are strong. I adore its stabbing 80’s synths and climactic key change. Elements like this bring out the kind of cheesy, fist-pumping anthemicism (I just made that word up…) sound I tend to love. Songs like this get my energy going, and both K-pop and J-pop can always do with one more.
Dropkick‘s negative qualities are almost entirely due to HYBE’s house style. The vocals are needlessly shrill. I can’t tell if that’s because the guys are still growing into their voices or the effects-heavy arrangement gives high notes a robotic sheen that makes them sound more like a whine than a gutsy declaration. Whatever the case, this approach slightly dampens the overall effect by stripping away individual character and texture. I’m still dancing around my room with a hairbrush mic, but you might catch the occasional side-eye of concern in the mirror.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
This song was produced by Ryan Tedder, Slow Rabbit and Grant Boutin. I thank that HYBE allowed Ryan to produce this kind of song because this is where most HYBE artists and K-Pop in general shine. I am actually eternally grateful we are starting to see great legendary American producers in K-Pop, I know K-pop relied on to Korean producers like Sweetune and even Swedish producers (just like the US back in the day). But it just hits differnetly when you know these big time producers did music like this back in the day and now they are doing it again.
For me this might be my most favorite pop release this year, it has everything from the vocals, the arrangement, the composition, the lyricism, the theatrical dimensity of it all. It’s just a pure authentic bliss of feel good pop. I do agree that HYBE does it too much with the vocal processing and it could have benefitted without too much intervention. But it just works so perfectly with &TEAM here. 10/10
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Idk about this one tbh. The song in theory should be really good but the “wont leave you standing by yourself” got irritating real quick. How many times is that line repeated throughout the song, 20?
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I mean, “Rock Me Amadeus” chants the word “Amadeus” some 65 times, but that is a far better song.
‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVNPwmFkf-Q
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A word being repeated sounds a lot more natural than a phrase though, there are lots of songs out there that have words repeated (almost like they belong with the beat) but phrases just feel and sound like they couldnt think of other tings to say so they just repeat it 10 more times inside of a chorus? But this time, it gets rpeated 10 more times in the bridge too.
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The shrill button was leaned into heavy, like a brick. What speakers are they using in the production room? It sounds horrible in my earpods, almost unlistenable. Maybe guys weren’t meant to hit a high D#5 after all, 20-something times in a row. A simple lowering to, say, C or even B. And than a key change up a half step to high E5, wtf. Its usually high head voice territory, or really good falsetto control territory like Ryeowook or Kang Hyung Ho.
I mean even Steve Perry (of Journey) in his heyday didn’t bother. … … Van Halen’s “Dreams” comes to mind, but it is all full throated rock belting leave it all on the stage style
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This is my favorite song on their not-really-new album. Like Firework it uses 80s influences well, although I think it’s less successful in the obvious autotune department. I love &TEAM for their performance quality but, not having watched &Audition, I have no idea what their voices actually sound like. I did catch Maki on Lee Mujin Service and he has a nice tone, hopefully we’ll get to hear it one day. Wish they had performed this (or Firework) at MAMA instead of War Cry.
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Them performing War Cry at MAMA was an actual set-up… Firework deserves to be heard in an event of that scale or even this song. It’s like if IVE only performed Baddie and Kitsch at MAMA except I AM was right there…
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I think I’d fall in love with this song real quick if it weren’t for the vocal effects during the chorus, which make all the boys sound indistinguishable and downright shrill.
I do have a feeling I’ll get over it eventually though, cus the song overall is the kind of bright energy I need going into winter lol.
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the second chorus actually sounded like a robot singing or was it just me?
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Oh wow, this prompts me to take a listen to Dropkick! My own buried treasure is Kep1er’s Back to the City, where so many of the members got to shine！
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