I feel like I should open this review the exact same way I did the one for ZEROBASEONE’s new Japanese single moments ago. Like ZB1, &TEAM have worked their way into my core five new-gen boy groups, just below the trinity of TWS, RIIZE and BOYNEXTDOOR. Their music has become increasingly strong, harnessing a melodic rock sound that really fits the group. The big difference, of course, is that &TEAM is targeted predominantly toward the Japanese market and hasn’t yet made an official Korean debut (though they’ve recorded Korean versions of their J-pop hits).
Deer Hunter is the third new track to be promoted from their second album, following the seasonal Illumination and the excellent Yukiakari. On first listen, I found Deer Hunter absolutely fine but not particularly noteworthy. These groovy dance tracks are a dime a dozen in J-pop/K-pop, and its minimalist sound isn’t always to my liking. However, repeat listens have brought out the song’s charm, and paired with standout choreography the track really shines.
Though I like &TEAM’s music, I often struggle to differentiate between their voices. They’re a group filled with similar tones, but Deer Hunter twists this by layering evocative vocal effects during its chorus and letting the guys sing in their lower register. The call and response hook is a total earworm, following by slinky synth that adds great texture to the track. This synth riff reminds me of another (very famous?) song, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Nevertheless, these solid ingredients come together to form a whole that’s even better than its parts.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Is it Can’t Take My Eyes off You?
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YES!! Thank you. That’s totally it. Now my brain can rest easy haha
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I stopped what I was doing when I heard that part and kept ‘du-du-du’ until I remembered the rest of the lyrics to confirm it 😀
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mho if they are going to spend the money on a sample, you would think it would not be whispered. Perhaps at least a little louder to get their money’s worth. Apparently, its been covered 171 times and sampled an additional 13 times, which to me sounds like an undercount.
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I was annoyed by the similarity to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” until I learned that that song was in the movie The Deer Hunter, so I guess it was a deliberate choice.
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I just spent the morning listened to a personal festival of ONEUS – (ONEW interlude) – ONEWE, prompted by the ONEUS release this morning. This would slot into the ONEUS discography nicely.
Alternatively, Wonho would crush this track.
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Totally agree on Wonho!
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Genuinely love this song but you cannnot tell me with a straight face that this isnt an Enhypen reject.
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to me, andteam are a group dressed as enhypen but sound like txt. they’ll never grow unless their team locks in and actually starts trying to create an identity for the group. they represent everything MHJ criticised about hybe.
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Tbh, this specififc song sounds nothing like txt and everything more like enhypen. But yeah, their music is always either txt sided or enhypen sided. Or an in-between.
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this is the 4th glitchy song hybe released in 2024 and it’s just annoying at this point. enhypen’s xo was pushing it and deer hunter is overkill – pun not intended. it would have been good if it had been released about a year ago after magnetic. i was listened to this when it first came out (the audio came out late 2024) excited for another cirkut song and was left disappointed…
i saw someone say they struggle to differentiate between txt’s and andteam’s discography and this is a prime example. deer hunter really does sound as if txt jumped onto the glitch trend after magnetic went viral..
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I think the similar vocal tones/voices are kinda hybe boygroups problem??? I also can’t really differentiate (most of) boynextdoor, txt, or tws member with each other unless I’m looking at the performance video idk
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While I agree with this for groups like &TEAM and ENHYPEN (and to a lesser extent TXT), I think BND and TWS have super distinct vocal colors.
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Ahh I forgot about enhypen 😬…
I kinda agree with you about tws (after relistening to their discography again), but tbh I’m still have a hard time distinguished BND member’s vocals, as all of them imo have this similar whiny vocal which makes them really blend in with each other (they are still great performers tho – the most entertaining even in gen 5)… But hey agree to disagree I guess…
Sorry to drag this lol, i’m usually a silent reader,, love your contents (๑•ᴗ•๑)♡
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I get what you mean about BND, actually. Their individual vocals can be hard to distinguish. I think what makes this okay for me is that they have a very specific tone as a group that’s different from other current bgs. In a way, I guess we’re both kind of right 😅
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i wonder why you think boynextdoor and tws have very distinct vocal tones and not txt and enhypen. oh yeah, because those are two of your fav groups so you obviously listen to them a lot more than the other two and so you can easily tell their voices apart now 🙄 so funny how even your “objective” criticisms are completely skewed by your bias towards the groups you like and you even basically admitted it in your last comment. similar vocal tones are a well-known issue among hybe boy groups cuz of their vocal processings and it is definitely not only txt and enhypen who suffer from it…you just don’t like them as much as bnd and tws so you choose to take more of an issue with it.
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This blog is called thebiaslist….I don’t recall him ever saying his criticisms are “objective”. This is his blog and these are his opinions.
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