CURRENT #12: GWSN- BAZOOKA!

Released: April 28th, 2020

I remember doing research on the girl group members prior to this comeback and I saw something interesting; girl group member Miya (3rd from the left in the picture above) was born in March 1993. GWSN debuted in September of 2018, which would make Miya 25 at the time of debut. That would mean that Miya is the oldest idol to debut in the current era of the fourth generation. There is a 6 year age-gap between Miya and the second oldest member, which is not a bad thing at all, but thought it was something interesting to point out. GWSN is best known for their debut single Puzzle Moon, which was a pretty good song, but had an even better music video that turned heads around. Since then, their album sales for each comeback after the other have declined, and I can't help but wonder if its mainly due to the quality of their title tracks, as Bazooka! does nothing to separate itself from its peers.

Bazooka! retracts a little bit from their hard-cutting electronic sound they were previously known for and puts on more of a light-toned twist to it. The result of this experiment though fails to produce anything memorable. Relying mainly on a piano loop structure, the song mostly consists of both vocal and chant hooks, none of which really caught my attention, especially the "Bazooka!" one. One of the biggest concerns I have is the imbalance in the amplitude between the instrumental and the vocals, particularly during the chorus. The hard-hitting bass overshadows the singing a little bit and it makes it difficult to hear the girls sometimes. The progression from the verse to the chorus is good, and the bass addition is a nice feature, but I really wished GWSN didn't bring those chants with them along the way. The harmonies in the second half of the chorus are nice, but I wished they had their own spotlight, instead of constantly inserting the "Bazooka!" chants, as those are hogging the stage too damn much. The second verse at least changes direction with more vocals, but it suffers from the same imbalance I previously mentioned. The song immediately ends after an extension of the second chorus, but I don't think adding a bridge and climax would have made a huge difference.

The songwriting of Bazooka! is just pure laziness all-around, with not a single reliable hook here to capitalize on. It's a shame because the girls deserved way better, after numerous attempts to raise the bar from their debut single that set a lot of expectations. Nothing in Bazooka! really showcased the personalities of each of the girls, and I don't think it would hurt for them to take a brief step back and find out who they truly are.

RATING: 6.4/10