For the first time in years, I listened to Teen Top’s first full album No.1 yesterday. Apart from some classic singles, the album itself is just okay, but it opens with a hilariously overblown intro that made me miss some 2013-era K-pop’s inherent silliness. Teen Top are one of a few second-gen groups who still pop up with new music from time to time, but these songs usually exist in the shadow of their greatest hits.
I’m sure there are logistical issues at play, but I can’t understand why beloved older-gen groups can’t return with their usual collaborators in tow. Teen Top are so synonymous with Brave Brothers that it’s almost strange to hear them working on a song by anyone else. New single Cherry Pie feels as if it could have been executed by any boy group, which is not the impression you want from a long-awaited reunion track. The song plods along on a fairly rote beat that occupies that strange middle-ground between dance banger and vibey midtempo. As such, it ends up feeling pretty colorless.
To Teen Top’s credit, their performance easily competes with any of today’s hitmakers. They can still churn out a polished K-pop product and Cherry Pie doesn’t make any real missteps. The problem is that every element — from melody to production — is so plug-and-play generic that the song ends up become a total nothingburger. There’s nothing here I can’t get in a thousand other places and this overly familiar sound ends up draining the color and personality from Teen Top’s performance. It’s as if they’ve been forced to compete in today’s landscape with a Produce 101 style mission song that was never tailored to them in the first place.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I’m with you – I don’t understand why previous generation groups don’t return with the producers who helped define their sound. I don’t want Teen Top to sound like current bands (nor do I want this from Kara or Infinite). Oh well, if K-pop groups and agencies haven’t figured this out already, then there’s really no hope of them ever getting it.
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Oh dear. Drop your cherry pie pie.
It sounds like I found an old ipod from anytime in the past 5 or so years, hit shuffle, then wondered “what who is this group, man I don’t even remember the group or song”.
“H Week” from 2023 was better, more them. They even released a “sped up” version, just for me.
For the kids here, peak Teen Top “Rocking”. What I love about this song besides being so high energy, is that for a dance song known for its distinctive dance moves they don’t even dance half the time. They just make hand motions. Imagine trying to do that this year.
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We need more performances now from K-pop groups that just don’t dance and let their vocals and charisma carry them on stage.
Here’s my personal fave from Teen Top. As a young person myself I found it three years ago but it was automatically made a top song of mine:
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Teen Top were one of my wife’s favorite and their tunes were always playing in the car, so I used to think they were one of the biggest K-pop groups around. I still think these are their 2 best songs, and it always surprises me that it’s not at the top of most peoples’ list. They sound like drop-dead classic to me, on the order of HOT’s Candy and that kind of energetic feel-good bubblegum.
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