Boy group Waker impressed me very early in 2024 with their debut Atlantis. Sadly, they haven’t had many more chances to impress, with one follow-up in mid-2024 and not a single title track last year. Those of us who have been around K-pop for long enough know how this story of underfunded rookie groups often turns out. Hopefully a new 2026 comeback foretells positive developments for this promising group.

Arriving exactly two years after their debut, Like That repaints Waker as funk-poppers. The song wastes no time generating energy, depositing us right in the middle of the groove. I appreciate the directness of this approach, but it has the odd effect of blitzing through the track’s best moments early on. Things unfold beautifully through the pre-chorus as energy continues to build and it feels like we’re headed toward a thrilling centerpiece. Sadly, Like That falls victim to the same issue most funky K-pop tracks have these days. Rather than build and build and explode, the chorus retreats to a sparse, percussive anti-drop. Once upon a time, this approach felt somewhat novel. Today, it’s so predictable you could practically set your watch to it.

Verse two continues to switch things up. I love the added bits of rhythm here, but I’m not as sold on the new melody. It might just take some getting used to. Thankfully, the bounding arrangement barely gives the listener time to be critical. We’ve heard this formula hundreds of times before, but there’s a reason it usually works. In our barren early-2026 K-pop landscape I’ll take what I can get, and this one’s upbeat enough to warrant a few plays.

Grade: B