TWS have been teasing their October comeback for some time now and today we finally have our first taste of their upcoming mini album. As any regular reader of the blog already knows, I’ve become a mega fan of their music over the past two years and love the way they’ve been able to establish their own niche. Most title tracks have conformed to a similar musical palette while b-sides and pre/post releases offer more variety. Such is the case with pre-release Head Shoulder Knees Toes, which takes the group in an explosive hip-hop direction.
As much as I’ve adored TWS’s brighter title tracks, I do think it’s nice to explore different sounds as a group matures. However, as a longtime K-pop fan I know how this usually goes for boy groups. Melody becomes secondary as posturing becomes their primary aim. We’ve seen it over and over again, and for a group as melodically rich as TWS the transition feels especially treacherous. I wish K-pop agencies would recognize that there are different ways to go “mature” or “dark” or “edgy” or whatever other word they want to use.
Head Shoulders Knees Toes is a mix of the good and the bad. While its repetitive, spoken word chorus is disarmingly catchy, it’s also the exact style of NCT shout-chanting that drives me crazy. A strong, melodic chorus would have done wonders for this song. Instead, the real goodies arrive during the verses — particularly verse two. I wish the entire track sounded as adventurous as this segment, which pops with a variety of melodic flourishes and hits of celebratory brass. At its best, the song has a sense of scope that I’d love to see more of in TWS’s work.
More than anything, my feelings around Head Shoulders Knees Toes remind me of my reaction when another favorite group (RIIZE) went down this sonic route (Bag Bad Back). I ended up loving that song for its sheer showmanship, and I can see TWS’s immense skill doing the same for Head Shoulders Knees Toes in the long run. For now, I remain skeptical but willing to be won over. However, I really hope the album’s title track gives us another dose of feel-good energy and anthemic hooks. No one does that better than TWS at the moment.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
not as bad as I fear it’d be, the pre-chorus is great
LikeLike
Really not a fan of the shampoo/nursery rhyme chorus. Hope the full mini album has more to offer that’s in their wheelhouse than this.
LikeLike
the chorus is just so ass. “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” is such a terrible and cringey hook for a chorus. Everything else is pretty good.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just as I expected. Maybe my hopes were too high thinking that they can “reinvent the wheel”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Even my own bias for TWS can’t win me over on this one 🫣 I guess it’s not THAT bad…but if anything my bias in this case is making me dislike the song more since I know it’s coming from them and what we lost 😭 maybe performances will win me over, the choreo looks crazy
As for the idea of TWS “maturing” their sound, I beg their A&R team – if you have to move away from their bright pop sound, move into something funky like Comma or Go Back!! They’ve shown they do it well and it would feel natural since they’ve explored those sounds already. I have the same gripe as you that K-pop agencies (and the idols themselves….) seem to think that boy groups somehow need to start shouting and yelling to be taken seriously…
Idk personally I’m perfectly happy with groups finding their own sound and sticking with it ¯_(ツ)_/¯ K-pop agencies and the fans have this weird obsession with “”duality”” and changing concepts when it really just feels like the group has no identity when they’re constantly changing sounds and concepts
LikeLike
I would LOVE a Comma or Go Back style song for their title track. It feels like the most logical way to “mature” their sound while staying unique to their brand.
It’s clear that HSKT is the album’s obligatory hip-hop track (ie: Oh Mymy, Double Take, Freestyle) and it just happens to have an mv this time, so I’m not too worried about a major sonic shift overall. I like all three of those songs to varying degrees, so we’ll see how HSKT stacks up after a few weeks. I will say — in contrast to your thoughts — that I like it *more* because they’re the group performing it. The song itself is fine but I love their performance and I think that will keep me coming back for more. If a more generic bg had come out with this I probably wouldn’t even give it a second look.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think it’s just the initial disappointment speaking to me right now haha – you’re right that if it was another boy group I probably wouldn’t have even made it through the song 😅 and I just know because it’s them I’ll still be watching the performances so….we’ll see how I feel about this over the next week
You’re also probably right that I’m dooming too much about a big sonic shift! I’ve been scared for an inevitable death of their school boy concept and bright sound ever since I became a fan, and then after fighting “TWS only makes the same song again and again” allegations when Countdown released, only to see that the first song they release for their very next comeback feels like an almost 180 switch….well that kinda triggered that fear right away haha
And yes, I would love Comma or Go Back style title track! 100% agree that that would make the most sense for them if they were to “mature” their sound, but we know that K-pop agencies don’t always seem to have common sense.
in conclusion, get me on these groups’ A&R teams!
LikeLike
The chorus sounds weird indeed but I can’t hate this, simply because of blond Jihoon with a red bandana opening the track and dancing like the rent is due, the electricity is cut and the kids are starving. I just know I’ll watch every single live performance of this song just for that, if not for anything else, so yeah.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not your bias for TWS making you give this a pretty high rating. If this was any other group’s song it would have got an absolute scathing review as it has all those features you usually hate in a lot of boygroup songs.
This song is absolutely atrocious. The head, shoulders, knees and toes chant was so painfully cringey, huge ick material.
LikeLike
I mean. This is the bias list. But also, unpopular opinion, the impact of the song and its longevity absolutely depends on who performs it. Songs don’t exist in a vacuum. This is an artistic product and execution matters, and not everyone executes a song the same way. This song wouldn’t have been the same with any other group performing it. For example, this is a hype song and they have a dance prodigy in their group, not every group has that asset, therefore not every group can sell it like they do. And I don’t even like the song that much, I’m just explaining how “bias” inevitably affects my opinion on it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh yes it ABSOLUTELY depends on the performers. That’s why I have a bias rating at all. On its own, the song is fine (probably in the upper half of this song style if not for the lazy chorus) but the performance is fantastic. Similar to the RIIZE song I mentioned in the review, I think this will be key to its longevity.
And yes, bias is involved, but how could it not be? I’m biased toward performances/performers that I like and TWS have consistently been that. I didn’t just randomly decide they were a group I was going to love. They convinced me through (mostly) fantastic songs and (always) fantastic execution of those songs.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Honestly I thought the “bias” rating was targeted towards the sound/genre of the song rather than the group? At least looking back at the blog’s review history.
LikeLike
It can be both! It’s basically my way of putting my finger on the scale and adding personal weight to the rating.
LikeLike
Also 8 is not that high to talk about ostentatious bias imo. The way I interpret 8 is “pretty solid but not for me”.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s the same ratings (down to the individual aspects) as Infinite’s Dangerous and Boy Next Door’s Dangerous (what a coincidence!), both groups Nick likes, and even then he stated that he found the Infinite one okay, but not as solid as their past singles and he also had some criticisms towards the BND one (although the BND one grew on him mostly cause of the performances). It’s the same case as this song: it’s an okay song, but has its own issues, but the singers are amazing performers and can execute it greatly on performances with their own flair or personality.
LikeLike
Did they choose “head shoulder knees and toes” because “kawi bawi bo” is so over-used in kpop?
I think its fine as a hype performance piece, very much in a NCT-style gestalt. Meets expectations.
LikeLike
Yikes, what an absolute garbage song.
Nick’s bias is doing some heavy lifting in this review xD
LikeLike
Bias was heavy in this one. Any other group released this you would’ve gave them a 5 (rightfully) for that hook 😭
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s on the lower end of their discography, but when you’ve got a killer discography, sometimes them’s be the breaks.
As a Young, Dumb, Stupid defender, you won’t find me griping about the hook 😅 , but I think that song benefits from more personality than this one (from a production standpoint, I think TWS more than holds their own performance-wise).’
Rating: 7, 7, 7, 9 = 7.5
LikeLike
yeah im not into this song at all, i tend to dislike when kpop groups go into this style of hip hop so thats a given, plus the hook is cringe
unlike nick, i dont have as much of an attachment/bias for tws so i would rate it lower (probably explains why bad bag back never grew on me like it did with him)
a 7 (6, 8, 7, 7) for me
LikeLiked by 1 person
i think this is the first time you rateed a TWS song lower than 8.25 🫢
anyways, TWS has been almost all hits to me, but this one isn’t it.
LikeLike
Ew… they weren’t born to sing that kind of music
LikeLiked by 1 person
The brass accents sprinkled about are such a tease, rly wished the song leaned into more of those cause that intro does get me moving a lil. I def thought of Bag Bad Back too when I first listened–I liked the more bassy production from RIIZE so I got it on first listen, but HSKT might take more time to grow on me. The former also had more sections to develop, such as a standout bridge that this song is missing. Could’ve been way worse from TWS tho! (8,8,8,9)=8.25
LikeLike
Good thing this is the pre release and not the title!
LikeLike
I can’t believe Hybe gave them this song. Why?!?!? It’s horrible. Definitely not for me.
LikeLike
it’s just terrible and doesn’t give off TWS vibes anymore (youthful, high school?) i mean they’ve graduated from the last festival mv but why can’t it be like countdown
LikeLike
I like aspects of it but can’t get over the chorus 😦
LikeLike
You’re joking, right? Surely that chorus was a lorem ipsum holding place in the song lyric and they just forgot to fill it in. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, shoulder, knees, etc. You can have great vocals and the rest of the song can be promising, but you’ll still bleed out. This song is already dead.
LikeLike
Unironically this is the only TWS song I actually like. Perhaps not shocking because I love hiphop/NCT-esque sounds.
It is funny to me (not in a negative or gotcha way, like in a genuinely “makes me laugh because we may have very different tastes but we all get drawn into the bias aspect” way!) how the bias for TWS has been winning over (valid) criticisms applied to other songs. Nursery rhymes, the same sound/formulaic critique, etc. But that isn’t a bad thing. I like reading critique, but I also really like reading genuine excitement and joy too, and this review melds them both together.
I gotta say I love a formula when it works. For me hip hop sounds (yes, including Blackpink’s more derided songs here) work. My bias lifts them above genuine critique of the music. And even though Itoo claim to hate nursery rhymes in songs, Young Dumb Stupid remains my favorite Nmixx song sooooo…. no judgement here.
All that to say: welcome to your Blink era, Nick. Except as a 42 (I had to look up what the fandom name was). Let your bias flag fly and enjoy music that hits. Music’s no fun when experienced with all of our own tastes strained out.
LikeLike
Haha thanks for the support 😅
I’m actually surprised I’m liking this as much as I am (it’s even grown on me since the initial review). Most of the time, when a favorite act releases a song that’s pretty much everything I never wanted from them, I get ruthless. I’m much harder on groups I love than groups I’m ambivalent about. Part of me was dreading this song and resigned to just quietly ignoring it. I’m pleasantly baffled that instead I keep listening to it and wanting to listen again. Part of it’s bias, I’m sure, but I also love a brassy hip-hop beat and there’s a certain sense of pomp to this that’s not at all the tough-guy braggadocio I usually dislike about this sub-genre of K-pop. It makes sense since TWS are not the braggadocious type at all, so that removes one of the biggest barriers of entry for me.
It’s kind of the same reason I loved YOUNITE’s Geekin’ so much last year.
LikeLike