SM Entertainment
I don’t speak a lick of Korean. But as K-Pop began to receive some attention here in North America last year I got excited. The emergence of Asian pop music on this side of the world is something I’ve anticipated for a while now.
I always thought J-Pop would be the first but South Korea beat Japan to the punch. Last summer Billboard added a K-Pop chart a concert showcasing the hottest acts sold out Madison Square Garden and even late-night talk shows booked Korean musicians.
And then some pudgy “former” anti-American activist unleashed the most addictive yet vile phenomenon of the year. It was hard for me not to resent Psy and how he spoiled K-Pop with “Gangnam Style.” After flirting with the mainstream by killing it on Letterman I always thought it’d be Girls’ Generation who would carry the flag and make us not hate the stuff.
Though it may not be their official North American debut I Got a Boy is the Girls’ sixth album in as many years. But it is not the album to break them. Nothing not even the standout title track has the pop of “The Boys” from their last album. But “I Got a Boy” with chaotic transitions that mirror the effervescence of the band’s English counterparts Girls Aloud is a great lead-off single and “Express 999” is as if Stock Aitken Waterman found EDM back in 1987.
Sadly though I Got a Boy is mostly weighed down by vacuous R&B ballads and dance pop that despite the language barrier miss the mark. Maybe Psy’s one-man wrecking crew did a good thing by killing K-Pop for us after all.
