Review

Song Review: VCHA – Girls Of The Year

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VCHA - Girls Of The YearI wasn’t going to write about VCHA because… well, they’re not K-pop. They’re produced by a K-pop agency, but this marks JYP Entertainment’s first attempt to create a strictly American girl group. From the start, I’ve felt apprehensive about this project — not because of the cross cultural interplay but because K-pop’s attempts at “going American” have almost all been incredibly dull so far. It’s hard enough getting a girl group off the ground in the Western pop landscape. What’s JYP going to offer that’s any different?

In this case, the agency has transposed their in-house style and idol infrastructure onto a group from another country, similar to their approach behind groups like NiziU and Boy Story. I find this ‘facsimile of a facsimile’ pretty pointless, since I’d rather just listen to the original version. But a good song is a good song, and these groups are certainly capable of churning out the hits.

That brings us to Girls Of The Year, which is VCHA’s official debut track. If we’re judging on the ‘facsimile of a facsimile’ scale, it’s actually pretty good. Catchy hooks, confident performances and bounding energy combine to create a memorable arrival for the girls. The instrumental has a ton of pep, especially as it moves into its propulsive, synth-driven chorus. Unfortunately, K-pop’s strengths come with its weakest tropes, as the track plunges into an energy-killing second verse. The song also misses an opportunity for a richer, more harmonic vocal arrangement in the long tradition of American girl groups. Instead, Girls Of The Year plays things very straightforward and this makes it feel a little inessential.

Hooks 8
 Production 8
 Longevity 8
 Bias 8
 RATING 8

Grade: B-

55 thoughts on “Song Review: VCHA – Girls Of The Year”

    • (I should explain further. Imo, that line is in extremely poor taste because the glass ceiling usually refers to professional barriers faced by a GROUP of marginalized people, not by individuals trying to achieve their dream or whatever. They could have made it better by referring to the “lifting while we climb” mentality, but they did not.)

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    • … Perhaps my thoughts think “young” because “Girl of the Year” is the annual doll of the year release from American Girl Dolls. Yanno, the ones with all the historical dolls, and also contemporary ones, and the Flagship Store in Times Square (presuming it still exists) and all that, which caters to pre-teens and younger.

      I looked it up for us: VCHA is pronounced Vee-cha. I was leaning to Vih-cha, but I should have remembered that Korean doesn’t have a short i vowel like English.

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  4. First of all, great song. I’m really happy with this one.

    I think there is a point, though, to this project. America has no famous girl groups, not since 5th Harmony and that was a blip. If it takes JYPE to give us one, I’m all for it.

    Plus, a wholesome American girl group? When’s the last time we saw that, the Motown era?

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  5. Ok, this genre reminds me of Selena Gomez & the Scene (with songs like Love you like a love song, who says, naturally, etc), which was ICONIC for tween girls a decade ago. If VCHA follows that template, we’re in for a treat.

    Also, the bridge (2:39) was great! Otherwise, a bit generic. 7.5/10 in my opinion.

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  6. I’m curious how the American reception to this will be. And I mean Americans who don’t already listen to kpop. They don’t really do anything to appeal to Americans and their makeup isn’t one Americans are used to. Good for Asian representation but American pop groups tend to have at least one black member. Not saying there’s discrimination here but the audience that vcha is apparently targeting would have this in mind

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  7. I think this could tap into the market that bops to Disney Channel soundtracks, like HSM or Victorious, that kind of stuff. I do wonder how sustainable that is though if they want broader US appeal. For now, I guess it’s for the best. Given recent Kpop trends, I’m guessing these girls are teenagers, so a concept like Fifth Harmony’s wouldn’t be appropriate.

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  9. Saying that VCHA is not k-pop is an exaggeration. Of course they are not typical k-pop but they very much have their roots in k-pop. They are trained in k-pop style and their music is produced by a Korean company. If they sang in Korean there would be almost no difference to other k-pop groups.

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    • It gets pretty murky, right? The songwriters for Girls of the Year are two Brits and an American. We’re in the territory of North American girls singing a song written in Europe, with a video and choreo produced in Asia. To me, it’s truly global at this point.

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  12. it’s decent, reminds me a lot of TWICE without the vocal variety.
    melody is good but I’m missing really Kpop high notes here. As you say Nick doesn’t have much personality…

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  13. tbh i always knew not to read the reviews of this site but this just solidified it. thnx for reminding me how ass some peoples music taste can be.

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  14. Like the others say, this feels very Disney Channel, or like if American Girl decided to debut a band.

    I think the music is… fine? Like nothing special but they can at least carry a tune. Unfortunately, JYP needs to hire an actual rap coach for an American group; the soft papery Dahyun rap is not going to cut it here.

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  15. I find it a bit dull. Not saying it doesn’t work as a song, it does. But as a big debut song for a global group? It sounds like something Little Mix have done much better ten years ago. I did like their first pre-release a bit better though. I don’t think this will catch in the west, but then again what do I know!

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