Nov 5, 2023
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So several years after the regrettable dissolution of Juzim (note: the video that link goes to features a strobe effect), Boss Yerbolat has a new girl group, T'oi. And apparently good enough relations with Ninety One that the guys have been occasionally posting about T'oi's debut in their feeds. I'm glad! And also glad that Boss Yerbolat has handed over the songwriting responsibilities early (their stage names are Nako, Oelun, J'Dek, and Ari; I don't know which stage name corresponds to which real name) and shelled out for English subtitles.
I am less glad that his concept for this group seems to be Ninety-One-but-also-Aespa: the opening bit where Nako grabs a drink out of the fridge and finds a portal is straight out of "Su Asty." (Boss Yerbolat is producer but not director; the director is Arman Kozhatay, whose name I don't recognize. The only name I do recognize in the credits is first assistant director Madina Torgayeva, who worked on a bunch of Ninety One videos and also I think was their media contact for a while.) Meanwhile the chorus features "My girls are on top, on top... We want, we get 'em," which may be too generic for me to invoke Aespa but nonetheless. It could've been Ninety-One-but-also-Blackpink, after all.
Here's the problem: that backbeat is not nearly strong enough to support Ninety-One-but-also-Aespa. They keep layering handclaps on top to gain some momentum but the underlying music sounds like it should be a gentle love song. I don't like "Girls," but at least it gives Aespa a floor for their proclaimed self-importance. Heck, even Crystalz, which was apparently a bad situation masquerading as an occasionally functioning girl group, knew how to build momentum going into the breakdown. "Tildesu" is a song you chill to, not dance to. DNA's "Tumandy Qala" had the same problem: pretty, heartfelt, but unmemorable.
("You just want every debut to be 'Aiyptama.'" I mean, "Aiyptama" sure worked, but no. You want an example of a more recent good debut song? Here you go. It's not their best song, but you are not getting that "seni oilai, lai, lai" hook out of your head.)