AM8IC made their debut about a year ago and haven’t returned since. This is long enough for me to completely forget what I found so promising about their pre-debut song (which is still pretty good, btw). It’s a tough world for nugu groups from small agencies, made even tougher if they’re rarely allowed to promote new material.

New single Rascals (Find The Pearl) arrives with a whimper and a cheap (but creative) performance video. The song has strong bones — a light funk sound driven by a series of decent melodies. The problem here is the instrumental, which operates at about a “7” when it should be punching forward at a “10” or “11.” We end up in this weird middle ground between dance track and mid-tempo as herky jerky bass keeps thing off balance. I hear hints of the strong song Rascals could be, but the music is too fitful and fearful to fulfill that potential.

Grade: C+