The Singles Jukebox

Best dye job in a music video since Matt Bellamy, tbh…

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[6.75]

Alfred Soto: Serious riffage around, under, and over the verses. Vocalists trying to keep up. A musical simulation of what it’s like to realize you’re in love.
[7]

Micha Cavaseno: If Macklemore didn’t come off as the RAP GAME CHRIS MARTIN’S LOW RESPECT FOR HUMANITY, this is what I actually imagine his brand of pop-rap might sound like. And distressingly enough, I’m head over heels for it. There’s a weird fidgety quality in the high-energy antics, giving it a sort of neurotic hysteria, but it’s all held together so tightly, that it reminds me of… Squeeze of all things! Forget Mike Watt, is someone showing Miles Copeland K-Pop?!?
[8]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: “Her” is a pretty fun mishmash of upbeat nostalgia: an aping of Northern Soul dancefloor standards, surfer rock soundtracks, and a little bit of the jazz-influenced filtered-Americana that Tokyo Jihen were so good at. But let’s put all that to the side to talk about the God MC, ZICO ON THE BLOCK, the only rapper in the game with the lack of sense/foolish pride/Zicosity to release a song called “Cocks”, who still hasn’t gotten a reply from Kendrick Lamar after jumping on the “Control” beat. You scared of these lyrical miracles, K Dot?!?! HUH?! (Zico’s speed-rapped first verse is pretty awful. GOD STATUS.)
[6]

Brad Shoup: Busy bass, but it’s so basic. Not so Block B, who get balled up into *NSYNC yowls and explode for a double-time rap break. That break is Zico’s, and it’s slotted in the heart of the order. But the impatience is palpable, and the trebly guitar and the cod-gospel and the awesome emetic chorus are all running together in my head. And whoa, what is up with bringing Jesus into this?
[6]

Madeleine Lee: “Her” glides from genre to genre with ease and style, drawing gospel and surf-punk and minimal house with the same continuous line. The melodies highlight the group’s fresh vocal tones, which don’t sound like anyone else in K-pop right now; I’ve heard criticism from fans that the uneven line distribution has more to do with producer-leader Zico’s ego than individual suitability, but everyone’s voice sounds like it’s right where it should be to me. Since 2012, Block B’s singles have been all about how great they are, to varying degrees of success in the execution; in a classic case of showing beating telling, “Her” is a song about how great someone else is (the titular Olivia Hussey-like her who makes you go “heol“) that makes them sound just as good.
[8]

Jessica Doyle: I actually went and looked up a fanchant guide, something I don’t usually do, since I couldn’t figure out where there’s enough of a break in the action for the fans to get a word in. (By contrast, see SHINee’s “Everybody,” where spaces that seemed too long in the recorded version were filled in during live performances.) Which makes sense for a song in which “I can’t talk” is immediately followed by Zico’s rap. For all the praise being heaped upon the love object, “Her” is more a celebration of the giddy energy of initial love, regardless of the recipient. It’s too self-absorbed to work as a real love song, but it’s fun to bounce to for a bit.
[6]

Iain Mew: Living up to the showmanship of the intro — oversized harmonies providing a most wide-eyed curtain raiser — sets them an impossible task. Hearing them attempt it via surf-guitar, squeezed “uh-oh”s and a hundred rapid changes of direction is still quite fun.
[6]

Patrick St. Michel: A stage-ready musical number that refuses to acknowledge the concept of “holding something back.” There are all sorts of little details buried across “Her” that could mutate into something great all their own — that squiggly little synth early on being my favorite — but Block B are too busy darting all over to build on them. Then again, with a zippy chorus like that, I’d be in a rush too.
[7]