Sam Fang
It’s hard not to have high hopes for KATSEYE.
The global girl group arrived with an almost startling sense of momentum. From the beginning, there was something genuinely fresh about them: a multicultural lineup, a distinctly international identity and the kind of effortless charisma that made their early releases feel like the beginning of something much bigger. KATSEYE didn’t seem like another manufactured pop group looking for an audience. They seemed like a group that had already found one.
Which makes WILD all the more frustrating. The new EP, released on Aug. 14 from Hybe UMG, isn’t bad. In fact, several of its songs are incredibly catchy. The problem is that KATSEYE increasingly seem to be trading the personality that made them exciting for the most disposable elements of modern pop. Repetition, slang, ultra-short runtimes and hooks engineered for TikTok dominate much of WILD, and the result is an EP that feels strangely hollow coming from a group with so much potential.
Perhaps that’s simply the symptom of the TikTok era: music increasingly designed to be looped, clipped and attached to a dance challenge rather than experienced as a complete song. But whatever the reason, WILD leaves you wondering why a group capable of so much is being given so little to work with.
Pinky Up, and Down, and Down, and Down
“Pinky Up” is almost a perfect example of everything wrong with WILD. It is an earworm by design. Its hook is going to get stuck in your head whether you want it to or not, which is presumably the point. It’s polished, infectious and engineered for mass appeal.
It’s also mind-numbing. Compare it to “Touch,” and the difference is striking. “Touch” had the same pop accessibility but felt like an actual song — something with a personality and emotional center. “Pinky Up” feels more like an algorithm was asked to manufacture a hit.
The lyrics don’t exactly help. “Go hard like we’re robbin’ the Louvre / We Mona Lisa with a cute attitude.” Oh. Okay?
The song appears to be an intentionally over-the-top exploration of fanciness, which could actually be a fun concept. But the execution becomes increasingly bizarre when the Louvre and Mona Lisa imagery is placed alongside lyrics about shaking ass in a parking lot and laughing if the group gets arrested.
There’s potentially a satirical joke buried somewhere in that juxtaposition. Unfortunately, “Pinky Up” doesn’t give us much reason to believe there’s anything underneath the surface. It’s catchy. It’s memorable. And that’s about it.
A Glimmer of What KATSEYE Could Be
Then comes “Animal,” and suddenly WILD becomes interesting. The production is more traditional and stripped back, allowing the members’ vocals to breathe rather than burying them underneath layers of noise and sonic effects. Its chorus is particularly effective precisely because it doesn’t seem desperate to become a viral moment.
This is where KATSEYE’s potential becomes obvious again…There is something genuinely compelling about these six voices when they’re given room to exist. Animal suggests a direction that could allow the group to distinguish themselves from the increasingly crowded field of pop and K-pop-adjacent acts: sophisticated, vocal-forward pop that doesn’t need to scream for attention. Unfortunately, that glimpse of potential doesn’t last long.
Matcha, Mochi and Manufactured Virality
“Hootie Frutti” arrives almost immediately to remind us what WILD is really interested in. From its opening seconds, the song sounds like it was built around the idea of repeating whatever slang happens to be popular enough to catch the attention of a young audience. Then we get: “Carry my matcha, Mount Valley water / I like my mochi drenched in chocolata.” What the fuck?
And yet, here’s the frustrating part: “Hootie Frutti” is actually a total club banger. The production works. The energy works. It’s fun in exactly the mindless way a late-night club song should be. Even the lyrics seem to understand the contradiction, cheekily admitting that “you crave it, and you’re not even a foodie.”
It’s hard not to laugh. But it’s also difficult not to wonder what KATSEYE could accomplish if this production were paired with lyrics that gave the members something meaningful to say.
KATSEYE Just Can’t Seem to Get the Winning Formula Right
“Bel Air” provides another welcome return to something resembling a traditional pop song, and WILD is better for it.
It’s not revolutionary, but that’s almost beside the point. After so much sonic clutter, a song that simply lets itself be a song feels refreshing. Unfortunately, the production remains an issue throughout the EP. KATSEYE seem to have a strange problem on WILD: they can either get the vocals right or get the production right, but rarely both at the same time.
When the production is restrained, as on “Animal,” the members shine. When the production is overwhelming, as it frequently is elsewhere, the group’s individual personalities become difficult to find. That’s particularly unfortunate for a group whose greatest selling point has always been the members themselves.
A Glimpse of the Girl Group We Were Promised
Then there’s “That Way.” As the closing track, it feels almost like a reminder from another universe — one where KATSEYE are allowed to simply make great girl-group pop.
The song carries a clear sonic homage to the Western girl groups that came before them, recalling the glossy, rhythmic productions associated with acts like the Pussycat Dolls and Girls Aloud. It’s modern without being desperate to sound current, and that’s an important distinction.
Being contemporary isn’t the same thing as chasing whatever happens to be viral, and thankfully, “That Way” understands that. More importantly, it demonstrates that KATSEYE don’t need to imitate K-pop conventions or TikTok trends to justify their existence. They can be a global girl group in the truest sense of the term, pulling from decades of pop history and creating something that feels uniquely theirs.
It’s a shame that the rest of WILD doesn’t trust that idea more often.
KATSEYE’s WILD Isn’t As Bad As Everyone Wants It To Be
There is a frustrating version of this review where WILD becomes an easy punching bag for everything wrong with TikTok-era pop. It would be tempting, but it wouldn’t be entirely fair.
There are good songs here. “Animal” shows genuine potential. “Bel Air” is enjoyable. “Hootie Frutti,” ridiculous lyrics and all, is undeniably fun. “That Way” might be the EP’s most exciting track because it sounds like KATSEYE are beginning to understand their place within the broader history of girl-group pop.
But that’s precisely why WILD is so disappointing. KATSEYE don’t sound like a group incapable of making great music. They sound like a group being handed material that doesn’t understand what makes them interesting.
The group’s early releases felt fresh because they weren’t simply chasing whatever was popular. They had personality. They had charm. They felt like they could become something. WILD, meanwhile, too often sounds like a collection of songs engineered for fifteen seconds of attention.
And that’s a dangerous game. TikTok can turn a song into a phenomenon overnight, but viral moments aren’t the same thing as cultural longevity. A catchy hook can dominate a dance challenge for a month and disappear just as quickly. Girl groups that actually leave a mark tend to give audiences something more: an identity, a sound, an attitude, a reason to care about the people singing the songs.
KATSEYE already have the hardest part. They have the members. They have the charisma. They have the international appeal. They have the audience. Now they just need the music to catch up.
Because if KATSEYE keep chasing TikTok royalties at the expense of developing their own artistic identity, the biggest tragedy won’t be that WILD isn’t very good, it will be that one of pop’s most promising new groups may never get the chance to show us how good they could have been.
