Following their pre-release Girlfriend earlier this month, (G)I-DLE is back with their first new title track after rebranding themselves as “i-dle.” This reinvention doesn’t seem to herald a shift in sound, though each comeback tends to shift things around since they’re known for experimenting with various genres. Teasers for Good Thing seemed to promise a nostalgic second-gen sound as filtered through i-dle’s colorful personality.
i-dle have always leaned strongly into concept. For me, this can often veer into cloying cleverness, as if the songs are designed to spawn memes, catchphrases and challenges above all else. The post-chorus of Good Thing fulfills this brief, including the requisite, performative self-censored cussing that features in so much of their more recent music. But surrounding this predictable hook is a track that paints a solid way forward for i-dle. And funny enough, they carve this route by digging around in Cube Entertainment’s past.
Much of Good Thing sounds like a 4minute title track circa 2011. Back in 2011 I’m not sure whether I’d consider this something to get excited about, but enough time has passed that this “recession pop” has come back into vogue. Good Thing‘s chintzy synths and novelty chorus feel right on trend and don’t even sound too strained when supported by such a throwback instrumental (complete with vocoder!). Better yet, the ferocious pre-chorus is genuinely great and showcases how Good Thing might sound if it moved just slightly away from its gimmicks.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Thank you girls😌😌
8.25/10😌💕🐬
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Honestly, (G)I-DLE (or i-dle now) have so much potential, but I feel like their overindulgence in their cleverness and gimmicks really get in their way. For instance, I can’t help but imagine what a banger Nxde could have been with a stronger arrangement and more/better melodies instead of sounding like a parody of a theatrical song.
Anyways, this song has potential, but the lack of melodies kinda prevents it from reaching it (+ the song being too short, like K-Pop, I promise you adding a bridge and third chorus isn’t gonna kill you, like look at VVV!). But I really love the electro production, it sounds like the best of the circa-2010 era music alongside the vocodor (which is a sweet touch). Just needs to get rid of some of the gimmicks, add some melodies in the hooks and it’d automatically be in high-8s.
Rating is the same.
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Nxde is a masterpiece wym
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I liked this one a little better than Girlfriend, I love the verses and the pre-chorus. However, it feel like the song’s influences and inspirations don’t match for me. There’s sounds of this “recession’ pop Nick talks about, but I’m also getting some Avril Lavigne kind of pop-punk style from the mid to late 2010s.
While I’ve identified those sounds and I’ve find them strange being put together, I can’t deny this track has cool parts and moments that I enjoyed. All in all, I don’t think I’ll come back to this often but it’s an enjoyable track.
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their heart is in the right place, but the end result is unfortunately a chop for me. I would love to hear more of this sound from them but with stronger writing.
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i like kpop english when its sprinkled throughout the song and not the entire song itself like this. this is the first song from the girls that i like the sound of but the lyrics i just cant
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*first song SINCE TOMBOY
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I love how some parts sounds like 2nd gen song with the robotic autotune effect. It feels a bit short here and there but hey, at least it’s miles better than their past 2 title tracks.
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Good thing good thing holy moly shit
OK fine, I actually like that line a lot.
The rest, I think for idle its actually a pretty good song. It is snotty and punk-adjacent and actually suits idle without being too. I don’t know if anyone else in kpop could pull this off except for idle. Good thing good thing holy moly shit.
Mid 8’s for me.
(She says this having not watched the video …goes away …. … comes back … OK the video is fine, a bit peculiar and all over the place, don’t know the story or what the heck is happening at times but not totally like weirdo what the.)
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Good thing line was pretty catchy.
Need a few more listens. Hoping it’s a grower.
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it’s reminiscent of 4minute, but definitely still I-dle. I can see the “it’s really really good” part becoming grating potentially. The cursing could go too but I’m not that bothered by it
I’ve never felt really connected to them because of some past things I’ve seen. While, I don’t see that changing, I think their music may be my favorite from girl groups this year
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Ever since with the success of Tomboy, the whole discography of i-dle just following the same pattern, same arrangement, same… things. Always bout’ a 3 minute track that comes with 2 chorus, with a chanting/music outro.
To me it just feel so boring to me, and if I would like drag another group (sorry in advance), it’s very Blackpink to me, where they constantly reusing the same formula and substitute it in with different concept and gimmicks.
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You haven’t been listening to i-dle’s B-sides, have you? Their title tracks have been following that format, but the B-sides definitely haven’t.
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Lmao I realize that I probably don’t like 2nd gen music that much with the amount of autotune used in this song. Sounds really out of date and messy.
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I just really love the production on this. I want to listen to this instrumental like over and over again.
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I feel like the last album i really enjoyed from them is the “I Do” album, or “Queencard”. Klaxxon and now this, isn’t really doing anything for me.
“Good thing” is fine, but the rest of this album feels very forgettable. Maybe it’ll grow on me but this is probably the least excited I have been to relisten to an i-dle album.
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