Song Review: UNCHILD – UNCHILD

Over five years since STAYC’s debut, High Up Entertainment has debuted a new girl group. UNCHILD have one of those K-pop names that sounds ridiculous at first but will likely become common parlance as the group establishes themselves. However, it’s not a name built to last. Can you imagine a bunch of forty or fifty year olds promoting under “UNCHILD”? It’ll go from cheeky to literal real quick.

UNCHILD are also one of those groups whose debut single is an exercise in name branding. They exclaim “We are UNCHILD!” more times than I can count in this song, making it feel more like an album intro (or advertising campaign) than a fully-fledged single. Its main hook is a spoken repetition of that phrase, delivered with a seriousness that borders on camp — especially when the “we” gains high-pitched, breezy emphasis during the song’s finale.

Supporting this repetitive nonsense is a rather fantastic instrumental that stomps forward with colorful rock textures. I can’t overstate how important this production is to the overall experience. Without it, I’m not sure we have a song at all. Of course, this only makes me wonder how fantastic this instrumental could be if supporting a more developed series of melodies. The instrumental breakdown toward the end is especially thrilling. Why can’t producers build an entire song around that?!? If UNCHILD further explore this sound with stronger material, they could be an interesting new voice in a girl group landscape that badly needs a shake-up.

Grade: B