With ALLDAY PROJECT’s huge success last year, I expect we’ll see more co-ed groups debuting in K-pop. Of course, it takes a very long preparation period to train and debut a group, and versions of ChoCo Family (also known as “ChoCo1 X ChoCo2”) have been promoting all the way back to 2023. However, their four-member rebranding arrives at an opportune time to capitalize on their mixed-gender configuration. If only they could find a better (and less-confusing) name. Writing about “ChoCo Family” makes me feel like I’m discussing a cereal mascot or something.

While I’m at it, ChoCo Family needs a stronger song as well. Gimme wants to be a banger but ends up becoming more grating than thrilling. The hip-hop verses are charming in short bursts and I like the seesawing synth strings that underline this segment. At its best, the production has a chintzy 2000s quality that could have been built upon further. Unfortunately, Gimme‘s hyper-repetitive chorus arrives to instantly sacrifice any goodwill the track had been building up.

This is the rare case where I’m thankful a song has a short runtime. I’m not sure I could have endured any more “Gimmes.” Even at just over two minutes, Gimme exhausts its ideas. I imagine a world where this cacophonous hook works in spite of itself. If I’m being very generous, it reminds me of something from M.I.A.’s seminal 2007 album Kala. But without a specific point of view, Gimme becomes yet another K-pop track trying to be harder than it is. That impression isn’t helped by an opening lyric in verse one that I hope I’m just hearing wrong. Otherwise, ChoCo Family will find themselves mired in controversy right off the bat.

Grade: D+