Fresh off the aural hell that was Iconic By Mistake, Katseye are continuing their new EP rollout with Animal. Thus far, the group has pinballed between gimmicky ragebait and ultra-generic pop, making their overall identity a mystery. Their sweet spot likely lies somewhere between both extremes, but their producers have struggled to find it. Animals‘s Ed Sheeran-led team of composers is not the way forward, and the song’s anonymous sound bears that out.
This probably isn’t the comparison the producers were looking for, but on first listen Animal conjured memories of the brief but mighty cultural dominance of Duffy’s late-2000s hit Mercy. Katseye don’t have nearly as dynamic of vocal tones, but the song’s strutting percussion casts a similar groove. If I were to be more antagonistic, I’d probably compare this to a Meghan Trainor song instead. And here lies the problem: since Katseye have waffled so much with their sound, all we can really do is compare them to other acts. I’m not sure what makes this a Katseye song. I can hear just about anyone singing it to similar effect.
Purely on an aesthetic level, Animal is fine. It makes no strong moves in any direction and conforms to familiar structure. Its melodic range is narrow and mostly just vamps along the rhythm. It’s the kind of song I could imagine hearing the background as I’m shopping. I might even hum along here and there as I scan the shelf for deals. Someone could walk up and ask me if there’s anything they could help me with and we might have a pleasant exchange as Katseye continue to softly sing in the background. The song may even repeat more than once and I’d hardly notice. At least they’d get a couple more streams out of it, I guess.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7 |
Grade: C-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
its much more listenable than pinky up or gnarly or internet girl, but yeah it just feels a bit too monotonous and radio-friendly to really do it for me, a more dynamic arrangement could’ve saved it
ratings the same
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right like that chorus was BEGGING for grittier, more rock production
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oh yeah currently they have a 6.78 rating in my book, yes im counting internet girl
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a tad boring but it makes for a solid starting point for what i expected out of their sound as someone who’s been stanning since debut! honestly anything is better than that slop that they’ve been releasing lately, and i’d rather take mildly uninteresting over ear bleeding any day. i just wish this had better production and… i don’t know, everything?? 7.75/10 for me!
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it kind of sounds like an animated film’s soundtrack
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it would definitely fit into one of dreamworks’ films, particularly the miss portion of their hit and miss filmography
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finally, a track from them that isnt awful. its decent actually
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It’s so hilarious how relatable you are as a person hahaha😂. As for the song itself, completely agree with what you said.
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You said it’s like Duffy’s song but isn’t this just a copy of Lee Hyori’s Bad Girl??
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For a song talking about ANIMAL, the song moves NOTHING like animal. Yes the music video had a telenovela quality similar to GABRIELLA, but the music just did not do anythig WILD about it. I expect a song with more wild aspect that made GNARLY viral combined with GABRIELLA sophisticated control, that should be the sweet spot that the producers aimed for KATSEYE. This song just missed the mark for me.
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