Despite being an early supporter, somewhere along the line Stray Kids’ music began to lose me. It’s a frustration I feel with many of their contemporaries and I’m eagerly awaiting the song or album that brings me back. Unfortunately, new single Lalalala moves in the opposite direction.
Lalalala blusters along in true Stray Kids fashion, delivering a steady stream of aggressively performed rap interspersed by off-kilter breakdowns that shift energy and direction. The song experiments with structure, pulling us through contrasting moments that give it a maze-like sense of disorientation. Choruses don’t always come when you expect them and instrumental through-lines occasionally pause in favor of muted symphonic elements.
But here’s the thing: this bombastic energy can’t compensate for Lalalala‘s lack of memorable hooks. Its chorus basically amounts to the guys shouting at us in repetitive rhythm, bolstered by a few distorted “la la la’s” to add a sense of stadium-ready chant-along heft. I guess the hint was in the song’s title all along. The sound “lalalala” doesn’t inspire much of anything, and this track feels like a placeholder between better Stray Kids songs. Its intensity is high and there are some interesting ideas in the production, but under all the showmanship it’s one of their slightest Korean singles.
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
7
Bias
7
RATING
7.25