Review

Song Review: Katseye – Gnarly

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Of all of K-pop’s forays into non-Korean markets, Katseye have had the biggest push and have the most potential to become stars outside the industry. Though they’ve only released one EP since their debut last summer, they’ve done a fair amount of promotions and seem to have found a natural place within the overall pop music discussion. With such a long hiatus since their last single, Gnarly is an important moment in the group’s evolution.

Perhaps HYBE knows this, as they’ve given the group a complete sonic makeover. Gone is the breezy pop of their debut, replaced with something much more confrontational. As is the case with so many too-short HYBE songs of late, Gnarly runs a paltry two minutes eighteen seconds. That’s about two minutes eighteen seconds too long in my estimation, but it’s right in line with the edgy hyperpop sound the song is targeting. It appears K-pop agencies have taken a very slow bus and are just now arriving to last year’s “Brat summer.” I beg of you, K-pop … don’t take on this particular trend. You’re not well-equipped to pull it off in any way that feels authentic.

On first listen, it’s hard to distinguish Gnarly as a song at all. It feels more like a parody, especially given its laughable string of cuss words thrown around like kids desperately trying to freak out their parents. A generous way of receiving this track would be to call it “camp,” but camp doesn’t work when you’re trying so damn hard to sell the gag. There’s an unbearable amount of “trying” going on here. Gnarly strains so hard to be cutting edge and in-your-face that it ends up not doing much of anything. Experienced pop fans have heard its rugged, electro distortion before and Gnarly‘s lame shout-outs of everything from Tesla (really?!?) to takis go down with a dull, eye-rolling thud. The highlight (lowlight?) for me comes during verse two where the girls actually say “I’m making beats for a boring dumb b*tch” before bragging about their “mansion.” I don’t know how I’m supposed to interpret this, but it certainly sounds like they loathe their fans. That’s an interesting lyrical approach! I wish them… all the luck in that regard?

But really, I think this group has so much potential if given the right material. Gnarly is definitely not that material. I actually like my pop stars to be a bit prickly and misbehaved, but not in such a contrived way. This is a big, glaring, deeply unclever cringe emoji all the way through. I’m actually embarrassed on their behalf.

Hooks 2
 Production 7
 Longevity 5
 Bias 3
 RATING 4.25

Grade: F

115 thoughts on “Song Review: Katseye – Gnarly”

  3. This is the most undiva, ungnarly… Thing I have listened to in a while, respectfully no🥀💕❤️

    tesla is not gnarly and neither is the questionable nature of this comback( the flies, the choreo, etc) they still have a minor in the group😢

    4.5/10💔🥀☠️

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      • but will somebody tell me what gnarly is????? i don’t get it i googled it but i don’t understand the context of this word, is it “extreme”, or “dangerous”? how can fried chicken be extreme or dangerous? there must be sth else right? english is not my first language

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        • “gnarly” is an old slang term in American English, circa, about 1990’s? 1980’s?

          Usually came from surfer dude lingo, like “that’s gnarly dude”. Think Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure-era pop culture. Wayne’s World. California dumb but charming but dumb guy.

          Then it devolved into Bart Simpson parady-ing it, lots of Simpsons, and others, and eventually it was only on kiddie t-shirts.

          How would I define it? Its almost indefinable, but something like “awesome strange horrible but cool”, all at the same time. Highly situation dependent, and vocal inflection dependent.

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  4. This is the most undiva, ungnarly… Thing I have listened to in a while, respectfully no🥀💕❤️

    tesla is not gnarly and neither is the questionable nature of this comback( the flies, the choreo, etc) they still have a minor in the group😢

    4.5/10💔🥀☠️

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      • For real though, I can’t even try to justify it as trolling or trying to stir up attention with a bad song. It just feels like a genuinely misguided rebrand

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      • Man, HYBE’s girl groups will never beat the “chasing trends” allegations cause of the reheated material they get. I don’t see how ILLIT’s different from Fifty Fifty or tons of groups with the “beige pop” sound (though Magnetic and Tick Tack hints at a cute arcade-y sound), or Le Sserafim hasn’t had a consistent sound since Unforgiven and now, Katseye being given whatever seems trendy atm (similar to LSF). NJZ/NewJeans were doing fine given they’ve been the pioneers of the easy-listening sound and kept it consistent and fromis were doing their own thing. Only the boy groups are able to pursue their own sounds, esp TWS and BND 🫠

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  7. The hyperpop beat has potential, but the arrangement prevents it from reaching it. That’s all I can say. The generic, “girl crush” lyrics, the abrasive, obnoxious sing-talk and the limp chanting makes it all so gimmicky and tries to be all “in-your-face”, but ends up sounding like middle schoolers tryna act like Regina George and overall makes the song an unbearable listen and had me waiting for the song to get over in the first 30 seconds.

    5.25 (5, 7, 5, 4) for me. And man, a 2 vs 7, been a hot while since I’ve seen an extreme difference between any two criterias.

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  9. Gnarly was such a good choice for a song title and “everything’s gnarly” would’ve been effective as a bookend to a nice chorus. Surprisingly I like this more than a couple songs released last week but that may just be because I’m partial to katseye. I feel like I should be madder, but I envision “gnarly” being a funny “what the hell were we thinking?” Moment after several more singles. Curious to hear what the clean version sounds like

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  11. I’ve been critical on Katseye in the past and though to a lesser extent I still agree with what I’ve said, I understand why they’re popular and why people want to support them and carry on. Though the music last year isn’t for me, I see why it was popular. With how bombastic 2024 was in Western pop Katseye’s music could’ve been seen as a nice break (not that their songs weren’t calm, just less dramatic).

    So, with the Western pop landscape in mind as they are promoting there, why? Why this song? What made the team at Hybe go ‘yep, this is what a Western group needs’? I’m not saying they should follow trends or not have a sonic identity, but this is not the way to go.

    This release makes me concerned that Korean companies don’t know how to build a Western group yet. If you’re a big group in the K-pop industry, music quality doesn’t matter to an extent, and you can still remain relevant no matter how unpopular the title tracks are due to fandom hype. But in Western pop it’s easy for an artist to slip due to a track not hitting the same highs as past singles (Charli xcx mentioned something about this recently). The music has to be good, there is a higher stake.

    I may be reading too into this, and Katseye’s team may not be looking for true Western popularity yet and just building a fanbase, which if so then my comments here can be discarded easily, but I don’t understand why they would release a song which you’ve mentioned could be a parody. If this is the way Hybe wants to go then I suggest they’re not ready for Western groups.

    I think the comparison to Brat is inaccurate, Brat is actually listenable and is for the club. I don’t know what Gnarly is for.

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    • This, cause the K-Pop industry is a somewhat easy market to target cause of the idol system, which prioritizes fandom building over the GP (mostly for boy groups since girl groups are more likely to target the GP), as well as the constant content people get outside of music, which helps develop parasocial relationships and strong loyalty towards the artist. The Western industry doesn’t focus on building the fanbase and rather aims for GP interest. This is why “global groups” like Katseye, XG, etc., are somewhat a niche interest, cause they are in an awkward position between the K-Pop industry and the Western industry where they have to prioritize fandom building yet also aim for a Western fanbase. And not to mention, K-Pop stans can be weird when it comes to groups aiming for the West since they’re likely to mock and dismiss the group for “chasing Western validation” for trying to cater to Western trends and Billboard charts. (though XG are good at doing their own thing and are gaining recognition, so I wouldn’t worry much about them, they just need a stronger marketing team)

      With Brat, what truly made the album a success was the diverse, maximalist production which actually tried to be great as well as the hooks being simple, yet repetitive (Von Dutch, 360 and Club Classics come to mind). Here, it’s like they didn’t even try, they just tried to copy Brat’s essence (the hyperpop production and the sing-talk-ish hooks), but forget what made the album a success.

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      • Absolutely. This is why I think in terms of a Western song it just sounds horrible. Like this is the worst way to go, but Katseye maybe just need more songs to build an identity (though not more songs like Gnarly). XG have a great identity for sonics and are also visually cool.

        I truly love Brat, my main comment doesn’t show my admiration for it but I love everything that it symbolises. Gnarly does not feel like Brat at all. It feels like something that could’ve been released in 2020. That’s how unfresh it is.

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        • XG’s saving grace is definitely them being able to carve their own visual and sonic identity, which Katseye currently lacks for now. But again, even XG were at one point generic girl crush before Shooting Star came out, so there’s still time for Katseye to carve an identity of their own. A Tonight I Might-esque sound truly suits them imo.

          Gnarly sounds like they’ve randomly picked a sample from Sophie’s works and just shoehorned it in without trying to make it interesting or innovate it. Sucks cause the production has potential, but the short duration of the song and arrangement ruins it all alongside the obnoxious sing-talk and atrocious lyrics.

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    • Yes, agree totally with this analysis. Also, as a big “BRAT” fan, the comparisons HURT ME, that entire album is in another league lyrically and conceptually and Charlie really killed the vocals. This is just…. BAD, despite the beat is good.

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  12. They did these girls dirty with this song… I really don’t get how no one involved in this huge project from the biggest company in kpop realizes how bad this is.

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  13. Teslas are not gnarly🙃💀 the brand is incredibly unpopular now within the last couple months in the US due to Elon Musk destroying the government with DOGE.

    They really did these girls dirty with the lyrics and song. This isn’t NCT level of experimental where you end up listening to it on repeat or on playlists…

    I felt like KATSEYE had it all with their debut. Now I’m looking forward to f5ve album release since they have a collab song with Ke$ha

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  14. Went to a club and the DJ started playing what was described as experimental industrial grunge and what sounded like pots and pans banging together on top of some screamo, and the floor cleared out immediately. This has the same vibes as that, and I hope I never listen to this again.

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  15. Maybe I’ve been so severely annoyed by the in one ear out the other nothing pop approach basically every new girl group has done lately or maybe it’s because I’ve been mainlining hyperpop that’s way more abrasive than this (including from its songwriter Alice Longyu Gao) but idk i immediately got it. If anything’s going to kill it for me it’s not the lyrics which is so stupid it rounds around into being amazing but the fact that the verses slow when it should be immediately hitting 120% all the time but that doesn’t stop the fact that I immediately started headbanging it to it. Then again i immediately got Sticker so it’s probably just that they made this song for me lol.

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  16. Too many things going on in both the song and the MV, I really got quiet for 15 minutes staring into nothingness trying to sort out my thoughts.

    In short: there’s probably some people out there who will get it, but not me, it’s too noisy with awful lyrics, a bad attempt at hyperpop.

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  17. Is this what BangSihyuk thinks a global audience will enjoy? My god what an idiot, he has officially given up on this group because he genuinely doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore. These poor girls are so talented they should honestly write the music themselves as they’d probably know what’s better for their market than that selfish pigman wang. I agree that they’re tryna go for the brat summer hyperpop wave from last year, and it just doesn’t work at all. Lyrics, cringe. Production, unoriginal. Concept, weak. And these girls just don’t have the aura to pull it off, nor the GAY audience to propel it into mainstream. Not to mention how they still manage to look and SOUND like K-pop despite the genre they’re influenced by. Like how do you fumble hyperpop like this SO BAD. It’s supposed to be fun and unserious yet they sound so tryhardy and disingenuous. One of the writers is Alice Gao which kind of explains this direction they’re going, but honestly her hyperpop music is way too experimental and her audience is just in a different world. Some lyrics like “Gang gang” sounds so bad when they sing it but I’m sure Alice wrote those for herself lmao. Hybe definitely asked the wrong people for help in this song. This is not for the mainstream, especially with the amount of money they’re probably pumping into this group. These are my exact feelings with Kiikiis birthday song but x10 worse 

    GANG GANG GANG GANG TAKIS

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  19. I actually don’t mind the beat, it’s coming more as hardcore-rap than ‘hyperpop’. However, the lyrics are atrocious and they have no flow for this type of sound or rage – funnily enough they sound so monotone when they even “deliver” that confrontational line. With the right delivery and proper lyrics, this would’ve been an interesting development for an girl group that started with a bubbly sound.

    I would argue no latest k-pop release, other than JUST B’s ‘Chest’, is trying the Charli flavoured soft electroclash (comparing ‘Brat’ and the material it’s sonically inspired from – which is more gritty than Charli’s album itself). And this is not to dismiss ‘Brat’ or it’s listenability but, I don’t hear any influence of it in this ‘song’…

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    • maybe not exactly brat but more of Charlis previous works (which brat mainly stems from) as well as charlis producers/collaborators from those projects like ag cook, Sophie, 100 gecs. They were less dance poppy and more straightforward hyperpop. The main thing is, at least for me, it’s easy to tell what they’re going for especially with the huge success of brat. Looking at it now I think they’re trying to make a “gnarly” summer happen maybe. It’s kind of the same idea with brat being a state of mind or lifestyle and looking at this song’s lyrics… well… it’s not too hard to conclude that charli was on the mood board. Bang Si Hyuk is brat though xddd

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  21. I feel so bad for the girls. Lara and Megan have been sharing samples of their music and it is tiers above this slop. I suspect the girls also aren’t fans of this song based on the Weverse live they held during the release. The vibes looked off and they were saying that the song isn’t for everyone. I could also hear Manon in the background saying “I’m scared” right before they cut the live off. I hope HxG comes to their senses and lets the girls make music they actually enjoy instead of playing with their careers.

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  22. A video appeared on my YouTube recommended page today talking about the dilemma that is TikTokers attempting to make music by cobbling together swear words, rhymes, and percussion. This belongs there.

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  23. the thing about gnarly is there’s a couple things that I personally dislike but that’s my own fault that I don’t like them but you can tell its not a good song when an entire comment section is agreeing with you I really respect katseye for being experimental but I honestly wont be listening to this one again, I also kind of feel bad for the girls because I have a bad feeling song is going to be torn to shreds by the knetz

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  24. the clean version is slightly better but you know you FUMBLED when your comments in the official mv are just confused and don’t really like the song, these are their FANS commenting

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  25. I don’t have much to add to what others have already said, other than are they really intoning towards the end “I’m the shit” several times over. Wha? Why?

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  26. Things I had to google after listening to the song and reading the review and comment section:

    • Definition of Gnarly
    • Brat & Brat Summer
    • Hyperpop
    • Alice

    If nothing else, I learned something. For that, I’ll give it a 1/10

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  27. What in the let them eat cake?

    And whoever thought it was a good idea to include Tesla… you been so out of touch touch touch touch touch touch, wanna throw hands at you so much much much much much

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  28. I assume the line “I’m making beats for a boring dumb b*tch” comes from the original producer and was laid out in the studio as a joke… who OKed this… as well as the rest.. ?
    The production is really good IMHO but I wish they just released the instrumental, at least I can put it in the background and vibe to it

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    • apparently this song was created in 2023? So I wouldn’t be surprised if that started in a better place and the plot got lost to the point where it’s really ironic

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      • Wow, that makes me even more confused, why would you pick a song with these lyrics. It’s that kind of awful that is just …. awful. Could be a TikTok song if there’s an artist with a ridiculously unique vocal performance to turn that into a meme.

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  29. ok it’s confirmed that they got the gnarly hook from a TikTok video in 2023 from Alice Gao (and the chainsmokers??) Seems like they just outright bought the sample and it also explains the Tesla thing when it was still “cool” to own one. They just never changed the lyrics. Out of touch asf.

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  33. so disappointed in katseye. letting a minor twerk and calling tesla cool – ik ppl are coping by saying it’s ironic/some type of parody but random people listening to the song will genuinely think they’re shouting out tesla – is abhorrent, and so are the lyrics. “gang gang gang gang gang” excuse me? lara’s blaccent also sucks like MANON IS RIGHT THERE. so yeah ew

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  35. Its a song by Alice Longyu Gao and she made a tiktok with the chainsmokers with it in 2023 before brat summer https://www.tiktok.com/@thechainsmokers/video/7218729393932209450?_r=1&_t=ZS-8vyFD9JabWC Definitely supposed to be just a meme song. But ig hybe said otherwise.

    When I said I wanted more brat in kpop, its definitely not this. I like the double meanings in the lyrics but its still surface level gnarly. Not enough for it to be camp and brat. brat was successful because it was real, raw, and authentic. If you’re just doing the brat sound just to make people think you’re cool and cunty, it’s not going to work.

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  36. genuinely one of the worst songs i have ever heard!

    (1,6,3,2)

    do not even get me started on those lyrics cuz wtf…

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    • Well, I think that at least WUIT is really about just having fun and the girls are not taken themselves seriously while Gnarly is a title track and they will be promoting this…thing. I can’t even imagine the embarassment it will be for the members. So lame.

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  38. Ngl, I have muted all mention of Katseye on twitter because i couldn’t stand to hear twitter go nuts for them/complain about the documentary, and several months later I have to admit a certain pleasure in seeing other people turn on them.

    That being said.

    The song isn’t great. I think “Where’s my juul?” was a much better song, despite being honestly super similar.

    One thing I will give it, though, is that it’s stuck in my head after listening, which is increasingly rare these days.

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  40. katseye absolutely need a masterpiece atp because otherwise what’s the appeal of a global group? if this isn’t k-pop, then what is this? everything they release feels watered down, even when they try one of the most out there genres. at least this is just a pre-release and not the actual comeback.

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  41. You realize how repulsive the music is when the lyrics manage to be more grotesque than anything you’ve ever heard in Brutal Death Metal. I mean, at least Death Metal is grotesque in a good way, that is… I don’t even know what that is.

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  42. you know its bad when even the fans are confused and are disliking this song. usually you’d see the same copy and paste “omg this is so good!” comments

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  43. I actually like the instrumental, but these lyrics just completely ruin the song for me beyond repair. I didn’t expect the comeback to be anything good, but I really wanted to be wrong. It’s just unfortunate.

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  44. dear lord what is this unholy mess? I don’t know what Hybe was going for but they slid right past it. The music is building something kinda interesting but the lyrics hammer it into the ground. The mv thinks it’s real clever. And does anyone still use this particular bit of slang? I haven’t heard someone say gnarly in years.

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  45. I usually don’t go through all the comments once they go past 50 but I had to here. It’s just great watching everyone commiserate. Gnarly is for sure notable and in a way I prefer that over the more pleasant tracks that I can’t recall despite them only being released in the past month.

    you don’t forget I’m real, trippin, gnarly… Because they’re downright awful

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  46. what annoys me is the production and beats are incredibly addicting (“na na na na gnarly” is ngl, such an earworm) but why why why did they go for this approach? what made hybe geffen think, yes, katseye FIT this song and the persona, people will LOVE this? this will go GREAT in the katseye catalog? what made them think this song SCREAMS katseye and only katseye can pull it off? this doesn’t make one inkling of sense to me. i also hate “noise marketing” or whatever satire this wants to be by releasing very divisive bad music to promote your artists. kiiikiii did the same thing with debut song and it’s still a bad song in my books but at least they committed to the genre and their artistic direction lends to the song. i cannot say the same for katseye unless the rest of the album is gonna support/elevate it. why not make good music just to make good music. or if you’re gonna go the hyperpop way, at least make the transition make sense?

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    • ok but in all seriousness my problem isnt rlly with the song itself moreso that it does not fit a group like katseye (a corporately backed gg with no real sonic identity) at ALLLLLLLL. if this had just been an alice longyu gao song like it was originally i doubt any1 wouldve batted an eye cuz this is right within her wheelhouse

      if nothing else tho im kinda happy to finally see a kpop (adjacent) song that elicits such a visceral reaction among ppl now that the whole “easy listening” trend is dying down

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  49. So I was originally a hater but after watching them perform this today and absolutely slaying it (esp Daniela’s fan cam, like wow!)…I actually really like it now. Its an amazing piece to perform, and I think that’s the way they’re planning to use it. I suspect the next release, which is meant to be their title track, will be less experimental.

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  50. i listened to the clean version/the performance, and in my opinion it is MILES better. they basically fixed a bunch of terrible lyrics in it (like bag of takis, tesla, etc.)

    still not worth listening to that much, but i appreciate the other version so much more.

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