Here are my credentials (again): little to none, I’m afraid. I don’t think I’ve heard any of their songs, and besides one interview with Keeho (I think?) I don’t know anything about the members themselves. So, let’s do this!

(Read Part One here)

EP #6: Harmony; All In

Jump is the one P1Harmony song I’d heard before this deep dive, more specifically the “dance with me” hook, which was a nice surprise when I started it. It has a great underlying beat, working in hints of funk and hip-hop (and a good dose of sass, which is always appreciated). The chorus doesn’t quite go far enough to distinguish itself but it’s still good, similarly to Doom Du Doom. I also liked that this song just felt fun, which made me realize how much it’s been lacking from their last few titles.

From the EP, my hidden gem was easily the fun-loving, go-for-broke energy Love Me For Me, with its encouraging lyrics the cherry on top. I also enjoyed the build up in New Classic and the great beat of Heartbeat Drum.

Album #1: Killin’ It

Killin’ It repeats the same issues I had with past titles like Back Down or Scared, but I had barely anything I liked about this one, besides the now-familiar good build-up that unfortunately leads into an anti-drop. I don’t have much else to say about it, to be honest. The thing I enjoyed most was the music video, which is a lot of fun, and helped sand off the edges of my least favorite parts, but I can’t see myself listening to it by choice. Sorry, guys.

Killin’ It is a full album, and so there’s more to talk about here. I enjoyed the chorus of Everybody Clap (bombastic without being harsh on the ears), the gentle, heartfelt vocals of Love Story, and the minimalistic chorus of 2Nite. My hidden gem was the rocky, easily danceable Countdown To Love, which makes the most of P1Harmony’s strengths and had me nodding my head along.

EP #7: Sad Song

All I knew about Sad Song before I heard it was that it was Latin Pop inspired, which is a very hit or miss thing when it comes to k-pop, let’s be honest with ourselves here. I’m in two minds about the chorus: on the one hand, I enjoy its fast pace and solid beat, on the other, it veers a bit too close to an anti-drop for me and doesn’t quite deliver on the promise of the build-up. My favorite part was definitely that build-up in the pre chorus, which is partly because I’m a singer and vocal spotlights often are. I also think that the song could’ve used a little room to breathe, such as a more toned-down bridge or maybe more melodic verses rather than fast paced rapping, but that’s more personal preference than a genuine flaw. But overall, I think I liked this one; it’s different from the average k-pop track, and I’ll always respect that.

From the EP, I enjoyed the laid-back reggae-inspired sound of It’s Alright, the synthy summer joy of Last Call (my hidden gem), and the classic R & B of All You. This was a pretty good EP!

EP #8: Duh!

I confess that after a fairly mixed back of singles, the name “Duh” does not inspire confidence. The first verse and lead-up to the chorus are fairly strong, and the chorus is alright. I even laughed at the delightfully over-the-top “Who’s that? It’s ME, DUH!” But oh my god, that whiny electronic hook in the back is killing me, I just don’t understand why it’s there; it adds nothing, and it’s Sticker levels of hell on the ears. And honestly, without it, this song would’ve been just fine, maybe even pretty good. But no. Another score of “close, but no.”

From the EP, I’d say that, while all of the songs have good parts—like the catchy hook of Murmur and the maximalist rock pop sound of Flashy—none of them quite stick the landing. There’s something about each one that stops them going from good to excellent. I did have a hidden gem though, and that’s Pretty Boy. Similar to the Taemin song of the same name, it was actually written by Keeho, and talks about toxic masculinity, fan culture, and making assumptions about someone based on their appearance. It’s a really good song, despite my gripes here and there, and it’s quickly become one of my favorites of theirs in general.

EP #9: EX

EX is the lead single from P1Harmony’s first all-English release, and is not at all what I was expecting (pun very much intended; I’m so sorry). It might be simple, with a laid-back, synthy beat and a light-on-its-feet choreo, but it works. There’s a lot of fun wordplay here (“Every girl deserves to have her exploration.” // “Have a little without no explanation”), and it got more than a couple laughs out of me. Besides that, the MV is also lot of fun, going back and forth between a vintage video game and a very Boy-Next-Door sense of humor in its execution. Is it groundbreaking? No. But I still liked it.

From the EP, I enjoyed both the Spanish version of EX and the synth pop spree that is Night Of My Life, but my hidden gem was always going to be Dancing Queen. I am utterly powerless against a chugging beat, you-go-girl lyrics, and a solid chorus. I loved it. Like, the main hook being “just keep on dancing, queen?” I was gagged, I admit it.

Verdict: TL;DR

I’m glad I did this. Like I said, I didn’t know much about P1Harmony when I started this review, and I’m happy to report that that’s changed. I always watch an interview or two when I’m doing my final edits and scheduling my posts (because I can’t work without background noise and it’s a nice way to end this; two birds, one stone, all of that), but this time I found myself paying more attention to the band than my own writing, which doesn’t usually happen. I ended up watching three; iHeartRadio, the Zach Sang show, and their styling on BuzzFeed Celeb, and I enjoyed them all.

My Top 5 songs are Follow Me, Doom Du Doom, Siren, Sad Song, and Dancing Queen, with Love Me For Me as an honorable mention. P1Harmony gets a 7.75 out of 10 from me. There’s so much potential and talent here, but more often than not, they don’t deliver on it. P1H’s title tracks are the source of a lot of my frustration, while their EPs often balance this out, which is an encouraging sign that they have the ability to make very strong music—they’re just not quite there yet. I’ll be watching, though; I believe every group has the ability to surprise me.

Next time, we’re onto a girl group and a concert review. Tschüss!