IOI - "CRUSH"

After 4 months on air, 'Produce 101' has spawned a single and music video from the girl group IOI, formed from the final 11 contestants who won on 'Produce 101.'  Their new single is "Crush."

This hot off the press song has just the right energy to propel you into spring. It's crazy catchy, and has tons of hooks, like the chorus: "Oh my god / My heart right now is crush boy / Everything is scream, scream, scream; full of screams!" "when I see you my heart goes rush rush rush" and the obligatory nonsense line "na na na na na na na." It starts off with a remixed version of the chorus and launches immediately and boldly into the main verses. The chorus itself is loud and insolent. These are not pleading girls full of aegyo, they know what they want and aren't afraid to demand it. The song itself is written to address how they feel about their "Crush."

There was some delivery that reminded me of f(x), but it's still very much its own song. They killed this single, and now I'm curious to see if they can handle the mini-album format as adroitly. If they can crank out material like this, they'll have my buck.

As the MV released was an unofficial behind-the-scenes fun video (according to 'Produce 101' reps), I will not be reviewing it. It's rather unfair to judge them on something that wasn't their best shot.

Score

Songwriting.....8
Composition....9
Impression.......8