[Single] SISTAR; Shady Girl

Shady Girl is the second single released by girl group SISTAR. The title track was used as the lead promotional track and was made by Brave Brothers.

Released: August 25, 2010
1. Drop The Beat (feat. B2K)
2. Shady Girl (가식걸)
3. I Don’t Want a Weak Man (약한 남자 싫어)
4. Shady Girl (Inst.) (가식걸)

Like how their debut single started off, we have an intro. Drop The Beat is like a slowed down version of their previous intro with its heavy synths and aggressive feel. It sounds like something 4minute would do. The title track, Shady Girl, is totally different though. It has a light-hearted pop feel to it with light R&B beats. What I actually like is that it isn’t an aggressive dance/pop song, although I still prefer Push Push to this. The song really highlights the vocals of the girls though, especially Soyu, who was autotuned to in their previous title track. It’s a good song though. Very different from the current trend of idol group songs coming out. I Don’t Want a Weak Man really slows things down with a nice R&B ballad that reminds me something from the 90s. It’s odd how their B-sides take me back in time to those days, but it just has that nostalgic feel to it. Hyorin owned the song though, although the other girls did pretty good.

Overall: I would say as a whole, this single is much stronger than their first. The intro is good as well as the promo track, although I still find it weaker than Push Push, which just had a fun energy to it. The nice surprise came from I Don’t Want a Weak Man, which is a very nice R&B ballad and shows off the vocals of the group. Overall, quite good.

B+

[Single] SISTAR; Push Push

SISTAR only debuted in June of this year and from the start had a bit of controversy due to their image being similar to that of 2NE1. It’s lucky though because since then they have established themselves as decent hit makers. Push Push is the debut single released by the group, with the title track being the promoted song.

Released: June 03, 2010
1. Here We Come
2. Push Push (푸쉬푸쉬)
3. Oh Baby
4. Push Push (Inst.)

The single starts off with Here We Come, a funky intro piece. I think this is quite a strong opener, but I was disappointed it couldn’t have been a full song because if it was refined a bit, it probably could’ve kicked some butt. I find Bora saying “rookie of the year” hilarious. She rocks. And then the intro surprisingly brings us into Push Push, which is a catchy pop tune. I don’t really like the transition between the songs as it comes off a little awkward. With that said, Push Push is just full of catchy and I especially like the use of the synths in the background to emulate brass instruments. The only thing I’m not a big fan of is the use of autotune by Dasom and Soyu. I think it would’ve sounded better without it. Oh Baby slows things down and gives us a relaxing R&B midtempo song. I thought it was a nice change from the usual upbeat material coming out of Kpop recently and the music is sort of reminiscent of 90′s R&B. I sort of wished that Hyorin and Bora just did the songs themselves. I like Soyu and Dasom, but their voices just do not work well in these songs as they sound like they are struggling at times.

Overall: This is a decent single to start off with. It grabs your attention with the intro and the title track is just a lot of fun to listen to. The B-side is a decent addition, although it does get a little dull as time goes on. I just wish that they placed another song on the single and laid off a little on the autotune when it isn’t needed.

B