Despite not having won a music program yet, Girl's Day closed out 2011 as one of the year's hottest rising rookie groups. They scored three consecutive top twenty hits on the GAON chart, including the top five smash "Twinkle Twinkle", and their larger-than-life personalities and sense of humor helped set the girls apart from the likes of SECRET and A Pink, who also sported aegyo-heavy concepts last year.

With their star status on the rise, you'd have expected Girl's Day to pull a T-ara and flood the market with music to further establish themselves in the crowded K-Pop scene. Instead, they ran off to promote in Japan, and didn't actively promote their music in Korea for a whopping 10 months.

The fivesome finally made their comeback last week with a new single "OH! MY GOD" and the release of their second mini-album 'Every Day II'. After their long absence, I was expecting big things from Girl's Day, but unfortunately, they've left me cold.



'Everyday II' opens with the sweet midtempo "Two Of Us". It's got cute lyrics about two people who haven't experienced love, but then they discover it together and pretty much live happily ever after. It's the kind of nondescript filler song that would show up as a B-side from A Pink, Girls' Generation, KARA, or any other girl group sporting a cute image. Personally, I'm a sucker for those songs (as unoriginal as they are), but objectively speaking, it's nothing you haven't heard before and probably won't impress anybody who isn't already a fan of the style.



The girls follow with "Oh! My God", which serves as their title track. When I had previously envisioned Girl's Day's comeback, I'd expected them to either continue the bubbly synth sound they started with in "Twinkle Twinkle", or to undergo a radical change similar to what Dal?Shabet did with "Hit U". With "Oh! My God", they've done neither. It's the kind of cheap auto-tuned dance-pop song that Brave Brothers could produce in about two seconds, and it lacks the charm of Girl's Day's former hits. Listening to it gives the impression that Dream Tea wanted to mature Girl's Day's sound a little, while retaining the cute style that made them breakout stars last year -- but as the old saying goes, you can't always have your cake and eat it too.



"OH! MY GOD" isn't terrible or anything; it just feels like such a huge step backwards. I'd expect Girl's Day to have put this out in their early days, somewhere between that weird "Tilt My Head" tune and "Nothing Lasts Forever". It's such a rookie type of song that might get a pass if released as the debut single from some new group, but it's totally unacceptable for a rising star like Girl's Day. The most shocking part is that it was composed by Kang Ji-won and Kim Gi-Bum, who are behind all of SECRET's flawless hits.

Luckily "Don't Let Your Eyes Wander" (also known as "Don't Flirt) is next. This song was amazing when it dropped last year, and it's still amazing now. The aegyo-fuelled europop production is brilliant, marking an evolution from Girl's Day's previous single "Hug Me Once", while also keeping in line with what was the group's distinctive sound at the time. I still can't believe that this was just a digital single that wasn't even officially promoted (seriously, who is managing this group?).



'Every Day II' wraps up with "Telepathy", which was apparently written and composed by Girl's Day's leader and oldest member Sojin. It's a sweet pop number with a boppy beat and splashes of retro arcade effects sprinkled throughout. It's not title track material, but it's a perfect slice of album filler that ends Everyday II on a really fun, upbeat note.



Girl's Day has a great deal of potential to become one of K-Pop's more popular girl groups, so it's a shame to see the band squander it with a disappointing title track like "OH! MY GOD". They've got the concept down (have you seen the "OH! MY GOD" MV? It's hilarious!) but all that's missing is the right song. Hopefully the girls will get it right next time, because right now, 'Every Day II' just isn't cutting it.

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