I’ve developed this little cadre of fifth-gen boy groups who are making K-pop really fun for me these days. At the top are my big three: TWS, RIIZE and BOYNEXTDOOR. Then, there are ZEROBASEONE and &TEAM, playing the role of the cool cousins who come visit every once and awhile. For me, their music has been slightly less consistent over the course of the last two years, but I’d still consider myself a big fan. In fact, I’d wager that if you enjoy any one of these five groups you’re likely to enjoy them all. There’s so much connective tissue between their music, variety and stages.
ZEROBASEONE are scheduled to pre-release a Korean track next week ahead of their February album, but before that we have a new Japanese release. Now Or Never takes a slightly rockier approach than last year’s Yura Yura yet retains that song’s undeniably J-pop inspiration. It’s nice to hear the group play within the sonic landscape their music is targeting, even if I’ve heard stronger versions of this sound from Japanese acts.
Like many songs of this nature, Now Or Never sneaks up on you. It’s not built around an obvious instrumental hook, choosing instead to deliver straightforward production that supports (rather than distract from) the melody. This approach tends to pay dividends down the road, as a good chorus can be far more timeless than a catchy beat drop. In Now Or Never‘s case, the chorus arrives in two parts. First, we have a soaring refrain that matches the lyrical tone of the track. Following this is a punchier hook, drawing upon the rock elements of the instrumental. Taken together, these complimentary pieces make Now Or Never an easy standout.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I mean its fine. But I can’t tell the difference between any of them. (… possibly Riize.) I can’t tell the difference between the songs either, especially without any toehold on the lyrics to grab onto. They all still have the same haircuts. And I’m hardly the casual K/Jpop listener. I mean, I listen to them all, every day.
This song, I swear its in the same key as “Firework”, and one can easily mashup “bang bang lets start the firework” on top of the chorus here. who was that … googling … &Team. Oh and look, there are fireworks on the video here too. Firework had a wash of obligatory 80’s synths popular at the time over the top of the instrumental, there, that possibly differentiates it.
I’ll leave this one to the youth.
signed, lady yelling at clouds, mystified
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I havent listened to this yeat but Firework was SOTY for me in 2023 so I hope I like it as much.
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this sounds like ur typical survival show boy group song lol. Definety miles worse than Firework IMO.
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Interesting, because I couldn’t hear Firework’s chorus here – what I do slightly get is the post-chorus part of &Team’s Yukiakari right when the “now or never” part starts here. Maybe I’m just too influenced by the huge difference in vibes between Firework (meant to be more angsty) than this one!
I think though that out of the five groups, BND are the ones who have the most distinct identity of them all, and none of their songs really sound like these. It’s so much more playful and sonically different – I’m struggling to think of a BND song that sounds like this kind of fully pop (slight rock/synth influence) – maybe Let’s Go See The Stars to some extent?
With the other four, they’ve had their moments where they’re drawing inspiration from this specific j-pop inspired sound (and here I’ll give &Team a pass since they’re specifically a more j-pop oriented group lol), but I also think ZB1 and RIIZE have been a bit too ‘inconsistent’ so far to really nail down that this is their sound entirely. TWS seem to be very firmly in the more ‘innocent youth drama’ niche for now. Anyway, I’m not complaining lol because I’m one of the audience Nick was mentioning here – if you like one, you’ll like them all haha
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Nick, which would you say were/are your favorite 4th gen bg. I know you loved the earlier output from groups like Stray Kids, TxT and Ateez, but I wouldn’t say that same impression has stood the test of time
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Yeah, 4th gen is my least favorite. I can’t say I have a “favorite” bg in the way I feel about these 5th gen ones. Back in 2019 it was definitely that trio you mentioned, but all three lost some luster for me as their careers went on and I no longer follow them beyond casually listening to new releases. If I had to pick now, it would probably be a smaller group like OnlyOneOf or Lucy.
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A nice track but not as memorable as Yura Yura. YY also has a stronger melody.
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