A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve.
VERIVERY just released an all killer, no filler mini album. Even title track Don’t Panic, which I had a few quibbles about earlier in the week, benefits from this strong context to stand as a highlight. However, I’m more excited about the tracks that take a retro synth approach. I’m a big synth guy. There’s just so much you can do with sounds and textures when it comes to synth. Because of this, I get frustrated by the way K-pop recycles the same tones over and over when there’s such a vast array of possibilities at their fingertips.
I mention this because the synths in Way To Zero are a big highlight for me. It’s not that I’ve never heard this exact tone before, but it’s become so rare in K-pop that it feels like a revelation. Add to that a galloping beat and exciting, off-kilter melodies and you’ve got a track that instantly stands out. It’s not as gimmicky as many K-pop title tracks have become, but it would make a fantastic follow-up promotion and is one of the best things I’ve heard recently.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 9 |
Grade: A-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
the amount of 9 rated songs only being relegated to b-sides..smh
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some parts of the instrumental remind me of ATEEZ’s buried treasure Cyberpunk, which is always nice to hear
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A bop is a bop when I hear one as this track just sucks straight into an old-school arcade videogame.
9
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This is everybody favourite track in their latest album no shade
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Ok kind of a rant here but YEAH one of my biggest beefs with the A&R teams of nearly every kpop group under the sun is when they have an intro track on their mini album or full album or whatever that has just the COOLEST sounding shit you’ve heard in years, genuinely thrilling experimental synths and harmonies and production and a bold direction, and then it ends after like 45 seconds and the entire rest of the album is all the exact kind of generic beige songwriting and beats that every other group has been using for years….it’s almost MORE frustrating and lowkey insulting that these producers are aware that interesting sounds exist and they just refuse to use them on actual tracks (or the companies hiring them are too terrified to release anything remotely outside the box for some fucking reason).
all that to say, whenever we DO get some exciting synths like this even on a b-side, it’s like a little victory that seeped through from an alternate timeline where kpop is allowed to be consistently mindblowing and inventive. I’ll take it!!
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The more I listened to it the better it gets!
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