With infectious hits like "Bo Peep Bo Peep", "Lovey-Dovey", and "Roly Poly", T-ara has gained a reputation for releasing the kind of addictive pop confections that are impossible to get out of your head, but they're unfairly overlooked as a group capable of making impressive albums.

Their 2009 full-length debut, Absolute First Album, is still one of the best girl group albums to come out of the pop world in years, while 2010?s Temptastic (and its two unofficial repackages) remains totally underrated. Even last year's Black Eyes was a good effort in all of its odd, cheap-ish glory.

For their most recent comeback, T-ara was gracious enough not to pull a Temptastic and drop another repackaged album, instead returning with an all-new original EP, Day by Day.

The album's lead single and title track, "Day by Day", is by far the album's finest moment. More "Cry Cry" than "Lovey-Dovey", the song sees T-ara going against the current trend of releasing upbeat songs to tie-in with the Korean summer season, instead opting to go down a much darker route with a song that sounds more suited to a chilly winter than the warm summer months.

Produced by Cho Young-soo ("Lies", "Cry Cry"), the poetic "Day by Day" stands as T-ara's most organic-sounding single to date, as well as their most hip-hop-leaning since "TTL (Time to Love)". With extensive rapping from the long-underrated Hwayoung and production built around warm acoustics, percussion, and an enchanting flute riff, "Day by Day" plays like an obvious attempt to cash-in on the enormous success of K-indie acts like Busker Busker and LeeSsang, while still maintaining enough K-Pop flavor to appeal to the group's usual demographic.



There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the flute usage in "Day by Day", with people calling it a knock-off of Britney Spears' "Criminal". This certainly wouldn't be the first time that T-ara were 'inspired' by Britney, but the flute in "Day by Day" sounds closer to a sped-up version of the flute intro from the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway to Heaven" than it does to Britney's hit, which is probably where the Pop Princess originally got the idea from, anyway. Still, the two songs do have a lot of similarities, but since they're both so good in their own right, it doesn't feel like it should be viewed as a negative thing.

The next track, "Holiday", is a melancholy pop jam with depressing lyrics and a boppy beat, giving it a similar vibe to the group's debut single, "Lies". The girls sing about being sad and alone on the holidays, trying to rhyme, "holi, holi, day" with "lonely, lonely, day" on the chorus, which would probably sound ridiculous coming from anyone else but T-ara.

One of the few consistent aspects of the ever-evolving T-ara is that they never do those typical K-Pop ballads that are so often used as filler tracks on a lot of idol albums. The group almost comes close to that style on the powerful  "Don't Leave", but producer Cho Young-soo keeps the composition mature and unpredictable enough to stop it from sounding syrupy or generic, opening with a synthy, electronic intro, before dropping into a dark hip-hop beat backed by a dramatic orchestra. Hwayoung, Eunjung, and new member Areum provide rapping throughout various points in the song, while the talented Soyeon delivers some of her strongest vocals to date.



The final two songs on the album, "HUE" and "Love Game", both appeared on T-ara's recent Japanese album under the titles of "T-ARATiC MAGiC MUSiC" and "Keep Out".

"Love Game" combines sixties girl rock with dubstep wobbles and synths, making it a nice fit for the album, but "HUE" sticks out like a sore thumb with its cheap techno-pop production. Despite a repetitive "whoa oh oh oh" moment on the post-chorus that gets lodged in your brain, it probably should've just been left on Jewelry Box.

Speaking of unneeded things on Day by Day: um, Areum? Now that CCM has finally decided to actually utilize Hwayoung by having her rap on all three of Day by Day's new tracks, T-ara feels more complete than ever before, making Areum seem like an unnecessary addition to the group. She may be able to sing slightly better than the non-Soyeon members of T-ara, but she isn't really doing anything that Eunjung can't handle. I mean, it's not like being a better singer than Jiyeon, Qri, and Boram makes Areum the next Hyorin or IU. Right?

"Day by Day" easily ranks up there as one T-ara's best singles, but the album itself isn't quite as strong as we've heard from the group in the past. It definitely doesn't come close to Absolute First Album, Temptastic, John Travolta Wannabe, or Funky Town, but it sits comfortably on the level of Black Eyes, and serves as another solid effort in T-ara's sometimes stellar discography.

 



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