Who Hurt K-Pop Bad Boys SHINee, and Do I Need to Fight Someone?

By Maria Sherman | February 26, 2021 | 10:30pm

Entertainment Music

They’re dark now!: SHINee, “Don’t Call Me” – The old SHINee can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Well… they didn’t want you to ring them in the first place. The K-pop bad boys are back, built into something new: after three of its four members returned from South Korea’s mandatory military enlistment, “Don’t Call Me” is a triumphant comeback, an undoubtedly sexy ode written by a lover scorned: “I keep telling you / There is no ‘next time’ in your life / I’m no longer your love / Erase it, forget about me please / I don’t know you / So don’t call me,” they sing on the devastating chorus, and I feel it. Who hurt them? Whose mother do I need to call? —Maria Sherman

Eh: Green Day, “Here Comes The Shock” (music video) – Welcome to the new Green Day, unmistakable from the old Green Day, save for the lethargy that partners the passing of time. The music video for their latest, “Here Comes The Shock,” is punk rock aerobics, complete with stationary skanking and pogoing—the perfect mall punk exercise routine, if that’s your thing. It’s categorically fine! —MS

Most Popular

Let’s sing! On repeat! I’m infatuated?: Grrrl Gang, “Honey Baby” – I’ve been obsessed with Indonesian indie/dream poppers Grrrl Gang throughout quarantine—2020’s Here To Stay, a compilation of all their releases to date, kept me sane. “Honey Baby,” their latest, is their greatest—addictive Lilies/Slumberland Records worship, despite the potential Jesus and Mary Chain “[taste/just] like honey” reference in the song’s chorus. If only every hook was so sweet. It is impossible to listen only once. Seriously! —MS

Wow, yes: Shamir, “Ocean Eyes” (Billie Eilish cover) – “Ocean Eyes” is the track that made Billie Eilish—she was just 13 at the time of its release, but the seed of what her career would become was present from the onset. Shamir, teasing a “emo shoegaze rock song” cover of the song earlier this month, has made good on his word: his “Ocean Eyes” would fit well in a Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack—dark, brooding, more devastating than the original, made light by his distinctive countertenor. Eilish should adore it. —MS

I’ll allow it: The Horrors, “Lout” – I’ll be frank: I love The Horrors, but none of their releases after their incredible 2009 sophomore album, Primary Colours, have really moved me much. They went from scuzzy garage punk to post-punk-goth-shoegaze, and I sometimes wish they just stayed there. The band spent the next decade honing a sort of neo psych-rock sound that was beautiful and atmospheric and rich, but never quite did it for me. Does “Lout” do it for me? I don’t really know, but I do know that it’s a complete departure from anything they’ve done before. As soon as I bumped this track earlier today, I thought, “industrial meets nu-metal revival” and while that, too, isn’t necessarily a genre combo I would go for, I’m too relieved to hear something that doesn’t just feel like “vibes” to care. This song (and its spooky accompanying short film) marks a completely new era for The Horrors, and for the first time in a while, it’s one that I’m really excited to embark on. —Ashley Reese