It’s a well-worn K-pop trope for bright, happy-go-lucky boy groups to eventually turn dark, brooding and shouty. However, this transformation usually doesn’t happen within the space of a one comeback! After bursting into listeners’ hearts with the buoyant On And On last November, AMPERS&ONE have already succumbed to mind-numbing shout-chanting on new single Broken Heart.
Though this shift in sound is not unexpected, it’s still depressing. Not only does it mean the group won’t be pursuing their own identifiable sound, but it also suggests a hit-or-miss quality control when it comes to song selection. Broken Heart‘s aggressive electro influences have potential, but they’re painted over with pots and pans percussion and an incessant growling that comes across as silly rather than menacing. This culminates in a noisy chorus delivered with typical boy group bluster. K-pop producers: I swear there are other ways to go “dark” than this!
As usual, the moments of melody are highlights, but they’re couched within a wholly unoriginal framework that negates their effectiveness. When more than fifty percent of a track is obnoxious to the point of being unlistenable, it’s hard to recommend even its bright spots. Here’s hoping this is a misguided bump in the road and the guys will be back with more enjoyable fare next time.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 6.75 |
Grade: D+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
You know sometimes I just would like to ask… Why😃 Why do you want to shatter my ears to bits 😍 This has taken away my smile and ruined my day 😍❤️😊
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Wow, the beginning of this song sounds just like NCT Dream’s ISTJ (which I love). It’s like the NCT Dream song we were all expecting yesterday. Judging from the other songs on the single album, Ampers&One still seems to be feeling out their identity, which is okay, but at the moment they sound kind of dated and imitative.
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song works best if I don’t take it seriously
7/10 for me
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i just wanna replace that shitty chorus with something else entirely 😩
are we even gonna have a top 3 this month…
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I actually like this lol. I like that the chorus is not just one catchphrase repeated, even though it’s shouty. that being said the instrumental is the best part of the song.
just like me you’ll probably like Crazy Stupid Fun from the album more, it’s very early 2010s EDM.
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usually this doesn’t work for me, but I think because the song is relatively consistent I process it as silly fun. I could see a kpop boy group doing something like this in 2009 (probably with stronger hooks) which makes this more digestible as those were my formative years
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Like its TVXQ “Rising Sun” minus the vocal gymnastics, crossed with Super Junior “A-Cha” era but make it NCT Dream.
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