Gugudan was formed by Jellyfish Entertainment in 2016, with nine members: Hana, Sejeong, Sally, Soyee, Mimi, Haebin, Nayoung, Mina, and Hyeyeon, the last of which left in late 2018 due to health issues. Despite having several former members of the huge group IOI and the show Produce 101, Gugudan was only active for two years before disbanding in 2020.

Here are my credentials: I’ll be honest, I know almost nothing about Gugudan. I know one song, and two of their members, Sejeong and Mina, from their acting in Business Proposal and Hotel Del Luna respectively, but besides that, zero. So I’m excited to find out more!

EP #1: Act 1. The Little Mermaid

Wonderland was their debut, and I’ll give it this: from the second the strings make their appearance, Wonderland feels like a debut. It feels like a grand entrance, perfect for a Barbie movie or a mid-2000’s girl power cartoon. I really liked this song; it’s such a burst of serotonin, especially the stretch of the bridge and final chorus leading into the outro. And when the vocals explode and the pop gets more bubblegum than I would’ve thought possible, the girls’ enthusiasm carries it through.

From the EP, Act 1. The Little Mermaid, I enjoyed the fritzy beat of Could This Be Love and the gentle vocals of Maybe Tomorrow, but my hidden gem was the acoustic-guitar led, delightfully hopeful Diary, with its snappy percussion.

EP #2: Act 2. Narcissus

A Girl Like Me is up next, and though it’s also solidly poppy, it reads as the work of a more established group. This song does a lot of things that usually annoy me—namely, the rap, the high levels of aegyo, and the constant tempo shifts—and yet here, they don’t? I’m not entirely sure what makes the separate parts all gel together, but at least part of it has to be due to the great vocals. It’s not their strongest outing, but it’s certainly solid.

From the EP, Act 2. Narcissus, I enjoyed the smooth, laid-back R & B of Street, but my hidden gem was the brassy, irrepressibly peppy Rainbow, which I honestly think I liked more than the title track. It’s such a classic 3rd gen kpop sound, from the layered vocalizing to the bright instrumental, and it’s a sound I really miss.

Single #1: Ice Chu

Ice Chu is the first sub-unit song by Gugudan, performed by Mina and Hyeyeon, and is a little like WJSN Chocome or Orange Caramel, both in the the subunit idea and the incredibly cutesy style. Songs like this are very hit-or-miss for me, since when they work well, they’re a lot of fun, but when they don’t, they can easily cross the line into annoying. I’m honestly not sure which side of the line Ice Chu falls on. It has good parts, like the vocals, the jazzy hooks, and the bright colors, but its immense aegyo is a bit much for me at times. Maybe I need to give it another listen. The music video is nuts, by the way, and so much so that it’s impossible not to laugh.

EP #3: Act 3. Chococo Factory

Chococo is a return to the full-group, for a song that’s still bubblegum but not quite as over-the-top as Ice Chu. The surf-rock elements throughout are great, helping to cut the cutesier elements down, and I’m shocked that this song didn’t come out during summer, because it seems tailor-made for it. I really liked the music video too, with its cartoony style and occasionally ridiculous humor, which reminded me a bit of Fromis_9’s Love Bomb. And now, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s stuck in my head for good.

From the single, Act 3. Chococo Factory, I enjoyed the fast paced, percussive beat of Lucky.

EP #4: Act 4. Cait Sith

The Boots is the start of a slight shift in Gugudan’s discography, marked by a more mature, confident sound, and was probably their first big hit. It’s minimalistic in places, giving the vocals time to show off where they blended in more in past title tracks. I really liked the build-up here, and surprisingly, I didn’t mind the sort-of anti-drop either, possibly because it was slight. The whistling hook is almost irritatingly catchy, and marries together the different parts of the song that could easily feel divergent. When Sejeong took her bow at the end, hat in hand, I felt the urge to clap.

From the single, Act 4. Cait Sith, I enjoyed the gentle piano of Lovesick.

Single #2: Semina

Semina is the second subunit track from Gugudan, again performed by Mina, but this time with Sejeong and Nayoung. While their main group was becoming more mature in sound, Semina went the opposite direction, opting for a summer-ready pop song. I’m not the biggest fan of the short raps here, since it doesn’t flow as well as theirs usually do, but otherwise, I liked this one. Its choruses are big-hearted and expansive, and the vocals are solid as always, though I wish this would’ve been a full group song so it could’ve had more layering.

EP #5: Act 5. New Action

Not That Type is the one song of Gugudan’s I’d actually heard before this deep dive, and being decently different from their core sound, it’s probably why I was so surprised. Building on the slight use of brass in earlier songs, Not That Type goes and runs with it, delivering a more bombastic sound backed up with a handclap led beat and a very catchy vocalized refrain. Again, I usually have a bone to pick with an anti-drop chorus, but I quite like this one. It doesn’t interrupt the song’s flow, and instead is more of a anticipatory pull-back for a few seconds before shooting forward again. It’s minimalistic like The Boots was, but seems more self-assured and bold, which I suppose fits with the song’s message of being honest about your feelings. I’m sad that this was their last song, but for a goodbye, you could do much worse.

From the EP, Act 5. New Action, I enjoyed the jazzy direction that Be Myself took, the down-tempo groove of Dear, but my hidden gem was Do It, with its slightly harsh rock guitar edge and great build-up.

Verdict: TL;DR

I’m glad I did this! I enjoyed their discography a lot more than I was expecting to, and it was a nice break from the darker and longer ones I’ve been doing lately. Also, it was fun to get to know a couple of the actresses from my favorite TV shows in a different setting. I watched a few interviews and a little behind the scenes content, but it was surprisingly difficult to find, so if anyone knows of more, let me know!

My Top 5 songs are Not That Type, Chococo, Rainbow, Diary, and A Girl Like Me, with Do It as an honorable mention. Gugudan gets an 8.5 out of 10 from me. Nothing about their work is utterly groundbreaking, but it’s all very solid, dipping into genres from surf rock to R & B to jazz, and marrying it all with infectious bubblegum pop. Gugudan had so much going for them, and it makes me so sad that they weren’t able to reach their full potential, for reasons I still don’t quite understand. I’m very glad that the members seem to be doing alright for themselves now, and I look forward to seeing what they do in the future.

Next time, we’re up with the next part of the Stray Kids deep dive. Tschüss!