Earlier this year, Waker’s debut slipped between the cracks for many listeners. A complete lack of music show promotion probably didn’t help, but I want to go to bat for the song because I still think Atlantis is a 2024 highlight. The guys have now returned with a summer comeback, serving a Vanilla Choco Shake to cool down the season.
First off, I’m pleased that this is a fully-fleshed out song. There’s no two-minutes-and-call-it-a-day business happening here. At over three and a half minutes, Vanilla Choco Shake unveils with panache, taking its time through a series of catchy verses and leaving room for a splashy bridge before the finale. As with Atlantis, the members’ performance is tight and impressive. Even within this lighter framework, their skill is clearly evident.
Those hoping for a knockout comeback may be a bit underwhelmed by Vanilla Choco Shake. It’s a fluffy, upbeat pop song that largely wafts by without grabbing you by the collar. The chorus — while catchy — feels like a missed opportunity for something more robust. But then again, I felt the same way about Atlantis at first and that song turned out to be a major grower. More than anything, I’m charmed by Waker’s upbeat summer energy and classic pop approach.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
“Two-minutes-and-call-it-a-day business” LOLOL
Sooooooo true!
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Well, how about that, our sleeper nugu group of the year comes out with a Song with a capital S. A Song written by a Songwriter who knows Songcraft. There is a theme, and a counter-theme, and a hook here, and a flourish there, and it all works together. This is not song by pro-tools, this is Proper Song.
SoulShock and Sam Gray with ROHAN wrote this one. I had to look it up – Mr SoulShock wrote for a who’s who of 90’s and 00’s R&B. ROHAN (ALLRN:D) wrote “Atlantis” – he also wrote a bunch of songs for Kingdom.
I wish the best for these guys, because they deliver better songs than most these days. You know I will be rooting for them, the resident nugu lover.
Have I mentioned Yunsae lately? Here, here is Yunsae. She composes, performs, and produces her songs =all by herself=. “People don’t change, we’ll do the shit again, we’ll screw up day by day” Trudat, Ms Yunsae.
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Despite never listening to their debut, this song popped up in my youtube recommendations so I figured I’d check it out. It’s a pretty decent song, I love that the energy is pretty consistent throughout and these guys sound good.
I looked them up on kpop profiles and these guys (individually) have been around for a while. One member was in 14u, another was on Mixnine, another one was on produce season 2…plus the oldest member is 29. Their experience is very obvious. Now I’m looking forward to a stage performance.
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Yasss, there is such a quality difference with experienced debuts (or re-debuts). Look at how good TAN was last year too.
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TAN is such an amazing group, they have been one of my favs since their debut. I’m hoping they stick together, we don’t have many groups where people can sing, dance, and rap (which is severely lacking in kpop).
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Atlantis is my favorite song this year so far. They did promote on one music show, but it was about a month after Atlantis’ release.
This is good, but not quite as in my wheelhouse as Atlantis. Nevertheless, I am charmed by Waker and their combination of youthful enthusiasm and experience/maturity.
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