AMPERS&ONE have an identity crisis. Each time they return with new music, it’s like hearing a completely different group. This makes them a tricky prospect to follow and enjoy. Their catalog is so hit and miss and there’s no overriding concept tying the music together. I’ve liked them best when they go straight for the pop jugular or dabble in early-2010s EDM. New single GOD does neither of those things.

Calling your pop track “GOD” is quite a statement, and I wish the music backed up that nerve. Unfortunately, this is another shouty boy group track with unpleasant percussion and overly-familiar hip-hop phrasing. The producers have underlined much of the song with traditional instrumentation, but that feels like window-dressing to make GOD feel more culturally relevant than it is.

For me, there are not many pleasant moments in GOD. The ear-catching vocals and shots of harmony during the chorus are obliterated by repeated gruff shouts of “GOD! GOD!” and the entire track has this tinny, cheap sound. It’s as if the producers combed through their sample library for the most unpleasant drum machines they could find. The verses are a non-entity, churning out the same vibe as so many other boy groups. As far as reinventions go, this is an uninspired one from AMPERS&ONE.

Grade: D