The Singles Jukebox

Taking bets on their next single: Bomb! or Bum!?

[Video][Website]
[5.00]

Katie Gill: I’m a bit worried that Momoland only have one song in them. Because this song sounds REMARKABLY like “Bboom Bboom.” The slight saxobeat stylings at the start, the sing then spoken response during the first verse, the equally awkward rap break…we’ve heard this before and it was a lot better the first go-around.
[5]

Alex Clifton: “Baam” is the exact same song as “Bboom Bboom.” We’ve got an onomatopoeiaic title, the same space-age saxophone used for the main riff, a rap breakdown after the first chorus, Yeonwoo gets a “sexy” solo, a cutesy dance routine that’s easy to pick up… it’s literally copied-and-pasted. Surprisingly, none of this makes me love this any less. “Bboom Bboom” has been one of my favourite songs this year (catch me recreating the dance routine while I’m out for runs, including public dabbing) and it turns out cloning the formula creates something I still love. When given sugary pop, nine times out of ten I will stand there clamoring for more, even when it’s the same old song.
[6]

Jessica Doyle: “Bboom Bboom” was a rework of the great EXID album track “Are You Hungry?“; “Baam” is “Bboom Bboom” plus an extra sprinkling of Crayon Pop’s “Doo Doom Chit“; and Momoland should feel no shame either way. They are given absolutely nothing original to do and they make it worth listening to anyway. You want to know how much Momoland I’ve bopped along to? In this geography game I score points on the Philippines flag every time, no sweat, thanks to Nancy.
[6]

Ryo Miyauchi: As if Momoland didn’t already promote “Bboom Bboom” to death, the group follows it up with pretty much the same song. Everything here, including that once-jarring trap breakdown, is borrowed almost exactly as their crowning hit. While it does feel less slapdash than before, it’s hard to tell if that’s because we’ve already seen their bag of tricks.
[4]

Andy Hutchins: 15 seconds in, I was fully ready to make some quip about not liking “Saxobeat” the first time. But “Baam” mostly ditches the sax outside its hook and bounces along, giddily infatuated with itself and someone, there’s a competent Bey-does-Migos rap verse, and the “Tell me whyyy” has enough sarcasm to be somewhat knowing rather than fully despairing. A proper bridge would’ve helped, but lacking one only sorts “Baam” with, uh, 90 percent of pop hits of the late 2010s?
[5]

Ramzi Awn: Featuring smart songwriting and an infectious, manic energy, “Baam” flaunts a taut production. Momoland gets the job done. The fact that the single sounds like it’s made for a video game is at once its downfall and its savior. 
[6]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Bad: Remaking a successful single to the point that its status as pure cash-grab is unmistakable. Worse: Being sure to include the awful rap breakdown non-sequitur. Worst: Having that rap breakdown feature the “This is America” flow.
[3]

Lilly Gray: Momoland’s babyish Party City conceptions of foreign countries aside, the Japanese version retains the snap and pop of its forebearer. Those “-ai” endings are hard to slam around, but this group has enough energy to funky chicken us through to the end. Just between you and me though, if I have to hear another “rap” breakdown whose attempt at cool effortlessness sounds either forced at gunpoint or in the middle of a bowel movement — the strain! the audible strain! — I will lose my mind. 
[5]