With over 2,600 songs on my iPhone’s “K-Pop Singles” playlist, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of unpredictability to my song review posts. So as a result, we have the “Random Shuffle Review” feature.
The rules are simple. I fire up my playlist, press “shuffle,” and whatever song plays first gets the full Bias List treatment!
Year Released: 2014
By the time Like A Cat (사뿐사뿐) rolled around, AOA had secured themselves as a top-tier girl group of 2014. That popularity would unfortunately wane in following years, but there’s no denying their trio of fantastic 2014 singles. After Miniskirt and Short Hair, they saved the best for last. Cat emerged as an instant classic within the group’s discography. Sticking with producer Brave Brothers proved to be a winning formula, and he delivered a ridiculously addictive hook here.
Cat lays out its intentions right from the start, pouncing on listeners with a slinky beat stuffed with playful synths and strumming guitar. This provides a surprisingly robust (if repetitive) instrumental. This isn’t a fast-paced, hard-hitting dance track, but there’s enough bounce to the production to captivate all the way through.
Of course, the true star of the show is AOA themselves. Leader Jimin’s patented “Hey!” appears more than a few times, but it’s the group’s confident, sultry vocals that really sell the material. They taunt the listener throughout, starting with the song’s extended, spoken-word introduction. Cat’s chorus capitalizes on this, opting for subdued over bombastic. This provides an excellent set-up for the track’s strongest moment: that wordless “la la” refrain that acts as Cat’s unrivaled centerpiece. The instrumental mostly empties out here, giving the arrangement laser-focus on this catchy-as-hell hook. This restrained production makes the song’s climax even more fulfilling, as the once-isolated chant is joined by vocal ad-libs and harmonies to create a stellar finale to an already-engaging track.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 10 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 9.25 |
Be sure to add your own rating by participating in the poll below!
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
A timeless classic! Seriously, the amount of love I have for this song is no joke. The classic AOA sound from this era is just pure pop perfection for me. I’m a rock fan at heart, but I’ll be damned if Choa’s climactic high notes and Jimin’s iconic cadence don’t put a smile on my face. Man, I miss this kind of song a LOT.
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What a good song and this is arguably one of their strongest mini albums too. I remember this was the first time they performed on music shows and got to have a full performance of a introductory song. Really nothing will top ‘Miniskirt’ in my eyes but this is really high up for me as well.
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Glad this netted a 9 plus rating from you! “I’m good, I’m hot, I’m fresh, I’m fine” is – dare I say it – one of the classic lines in k-pop. Meticulous. Wonderful. Amazing. The pretty girls are AoA.
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2600 songs, oml-
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AOA is a rare instance of a group plateauing with me. They were one of my favorite groups but that began to change after a series of releases. It started with “Like A Cat”. While everyone was tossing laurels and extolling the song, I was left scratching my head. It was a decent song and the girls were in peak form, but it wasn’t stuck in my head all day like previous releases. How could this be? Was it me that didn’t get it?
The next few releases, “Heart Attack”, “Give Me Love (Japanese)”, & “Good Luck”, were.. ..okay. They were well produced and the girls were even more polished but I wasn’t crushing on these offerings the way I was on their earlier releases. When “Bing Bing” and “Excuse Me” dropped, I did like the former, but the latter was.. ..alright. “Bingle Bangle”? Meh. BTW, you’re not fooling anyone blonde-bobbed, Yuna!
Don’t get me wrong, “meh” level AOA is still better than many other groups better offerings, but I use to ship this group to the point that I thought “they could do no wrong”; but no longer. I’m still a stan and I want to see more releases from them, but I’m not waiting for it like it’s my next breath of air.
Now.. ..if you want to talk about some of their B-sides.. ..that’s a different story. It’s amazing what gets picked as title tracks versus what deservedly should have been.
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