I featured Superstar on my J-pop round-up a few days ago, but I know only a sliver of readers regularly check that out and the song has since become a staple on my playlist so I thought I’d give it a longer write-up. PG are a co-ed, very young group from Avex that first hit my radar with their half-annoying/half-awesome debut track. Avex has a really great history with co-ed groups, but it’s easy for me to dismiss kid-centered music as too “Disney channel” for my tastes. However, Superstar has some great surprises to offer.
First off, we’re in the middle of summer and I am craving some hyper energetic dance pop. I mean, I’m always craving hyper energetic dance pop but that’s especially true this time of year. Superstar delivers on this wish, bounding forward like one of those big, dumb EDM hits of the early 2010s. Nothing here is rocket science, but it hits all the right marks. The members’ vocals are also charmingly earnest in a way that makes this style of song really soar.
Two thirds of the way through, Superstar collapses into a long, languid hip-hop interlude. I would normally hate this approach within such an otherwise high-energy track, but I’ll let it slide here because this interlude gives the producers a chance to set-up the mother of all instrumental builds into the final chorus. This moment is absolute euphoria and worth the price of admission alone. I just keep wanting to replay the song to get back to it. We’ll see how Superstar ages over the next month or so, but this could easily be my favorite J-pop track of the summer. It’s just so fun and joyous.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Ā Production | 9 |
| Ā Longevity | 9 |
| Ā Bias | 9 |
| Ā RATING | 9 |
Grade: A-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
wow, this is great! an excellent contender for song of the summer! i didnt even mind that hip hop bridge either cuz it built to that euphoric climax in such an awesome way
ratingās the same
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That bridge is incredible.
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abt disney channel type music: i get what u mean but also they had some suprising gems from the era where i was the target demographic (ie like 2008-2011) like this is basically a girls aloud/xenomania song
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Yeah I liked that first Selena album a lot actually. I was definitely not immune to the Disney Channel wave in the 2000s/early 2010s!
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Yes, this is such a good summer song. NXON ā Ride Or Die, PG ā Superstar, and Ebisu Gakuen Boys Club ā Yes! Tokyo are my JPOP songs for summer.
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I think that, if Kidz Bop ever made a Frost Children cover, it would sound exactly like this.
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Except Frost Children have super annoying, overly-processed vocals imo.
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š¦
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Just my opinion, of course! People keep recommending FC to me and I unfortunately can’t get past the vocals, which sound very affected to me.
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ohhhhh so basically the same deal as perfumes first few albums where u love the production but the vocals leave u at an impasse huh
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Kind of, though I’m more drawn to Perfume because that feels like a character choice. As a listener, I really need to connect with vocals in pop. I don’t tend to like it when a singer is trying to affect a specific style or there are too many effects, unless it’s a part of a character or alter-ego or something. It’s hard to explain, but it’s the reason why I have a hard time with a lot of modern pop actually. It’s the same aspect that keeps me from enjoying artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. The performance just feels very “put on” to me.
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ok sorry for the late response but no i get what u mean….their vocals r very love it or hate it in that kind of regard (theyve always been way better in the production dept) most of the time tho i happen to enjoy it cuz i have a huge soft spot for that kind of ultra trashy early 2010s pop i grew up w (think early kesha)
but my fav songs of theirs r ones where they cut back on it n just let the melody/production do the talking (blue eyes being the pinnacle of this srsly that song is everything i couldve possibly wanted from this recession pop revival thing)
n actually i feel like ud enjoy the music theyve made for other artists way more (ie kim petrases new music) like this is phenomenal
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