Mnet loves wringing as much as possible from its survival series, so in addition to ALPHA DRIVE ONE, Boys II Planet gives us a spinoff group. MODYSSEY is comprised of Chinese members who didn’t quite make the cut, promoting in Korea with a song by Stray Kids’ 3racha. This is a set-up for instant success, but is the music any good?
Given its creators, it’s hard to separate Hook from Stray Kids. I can hear how that group would perform it, making MODYSSEY feel more like a tribute act at this point. Hook throws in a bit more electro-funk than anticipated, hinging on a nice bassline during its chorus. I chuckled when this chorus frames itself around the lyric “don’t stop the melody” since K-pop hasn’t started the damn melody in quite some time. Hook boasts fragments of melodic success, but much of the track is build on more staccato punches (ie: “hook! hook! hook!”). This approach tempers some of its fresh appeal and makes the track feel overly busy rather than slick and satisfying.
Still, Hook has enough tricks in its utility belt to maintain interest. The bar is so low it’s in hell, so MODYSSEY will have to do with faint praise for now, but I’m a little charmed by Hook‘s desire to try things out and keep things moving. None of its hooks work completely for me, but there are enough of them that my brain never has the chance to linger on any one moment. It’s assembly-line K-pop at its most efficient.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
Grade: B-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Fair enough. I was stunned when I heard 3RACHA was going to produce their debut (in a negative way because of how I am very disappointed as to their musical direction) and if this is the sound (which is totally back to their roots) then call me a fan then! THIS IS PEAK SKZ music, this is what should have been released continuing after God’s Menu and Back Door in 2021 instead of that sloppy Thunderous!
HOOK is honestly fun and its commitment to being playful and chill at the same time endears me, the guitar flourishes are never short of fullfilling and that bridge is beautiful reminds me of why I fell in love with Stray Kids back in 2018. They just had this sound of hip-hop that I found very authentic and different at the time, this is very strong. I’m actually curious as to why SKZ didn’t decide to release this song as their single. MODYSSEY gets their best introduction possible with this, all the members get to shine and I’m really stoked.
This and Pretty Boy Swag does seal my faith for that hip-hop swagger I personally been missing heavily. This is just PEAK and a banger! 9/10.
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Wow, this is so much better than ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s debut. A lot of ideas here and it keeps moving the whole time. I think this will be fun when they do this on music shows.
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Funny you mention Stray Kids because of the obvious connection, but I was hearing ambitions of debut era Seventeen.
There are almost too many ideas packed into here, none of them allowed the space to develop, until we get interrupted by just HOOK HOOK HOOK HOOK which just stops any forward moment into immediacy of wait what who thought just HOOK HOOK HOOK HOOK was musical, and whyeeeeee.
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