The top 5 Asian boy band singles of 2009 that set dance floors on fire and hearts speed racing.

There’s no other place in the world where boy bands thrive as successfully - with sparkles on top - as they do in Asia. 2009 witnessed the unstoppable domination of K-Pop and J-Pop boy bands across the region. The entire Asian music experience can be overwhelming, but behind the flashy liquid dancing and the calculated posturing are pop gems with hooks that challenge logic: It is that rare instance when language becomes music. It’s okay if you don’t understand the words - all that matters is the craving to move and be moved. The top five Asian boy band singles of 2009 will show you exactly how it’s done and why they’re here to stay.

5. 'Sunshine' - August Band (Thailand)

Sunlight bottled, this is. The gleeful horn section, the funky guitars, and the peppy singing of its five vocalists led by actor Pchy Hiranyawongkul is a breath of fresh air in pop-urban dominated radio. Reggae and soul, optimism and youth, propel ‘Sunshine’ to idyllic
heights where there’s not a cloud of angst that hovers, and a pop song is simply just fun. Who needs synchronized dancing with a melody this
soaring and radiant?

4. 'One Drop' - KAT-TUN (Japan)

'Rock' and 'boy band' should be like pouring honey onto onion rings, but KAT-TUN deliciously combines both. ‘One Drop’ is their ninth #1 in the Oricon Charts (the company that supplies the music ratings in Japan), and the chomping guitars will have it no other way. Urgent and unabashedly punk, ‘One Drop’ is atypical boy band fare with its riff-packed pop and shout-out-loud “bie-bies.” It’s an all-too-quick head rush, but there’s always the repeat button for that.

3. Again & Again - 2PM (Korea)

From the atmospheric bleeps to the bare electronica of the chorus, ‘Again & Again’ is an involving 80s-pop love affair. There is also an underlying darkness that shrouds the repetitive hooks; a time loop that can only exist in obsession. Like a man replaying memories, the song sticks like a scene from a past you can’t shake off. Simmering, with none of the immediacy of its contemporaries, ‘Again & Again’ is a sad song you can’t help but dance to.

2. My Heaven - Big Bang (Korea/Japan)

K-Pop poster boys Big Bang blasted into the Oricon Charts with a Japanese translation of their song ‘Heaven’ from the Stand Up mini-album. Composed by the legendary Japanese composer Daishi Dance, ‘My Heaven’ opens with a deceptively melodramatic string section before launching into la-la-las buoyed by a thumping house beat. The boys’ trademark hip-hop/dance mash-up reaches blissful oblivion in the chorus, swelling into a breathtaking sing-along that defies gravity. Euphoric and heady, resistance becomes
futile. Just dance.

1. Sorry, Sorry - Super Junior (Korea)

When even the CPDRC inmates of Cebu danced to ‘Sorry, Sorry,’ it could only be a matter of time before Super Junior conquered Asia, and perhaps, the world. With its alien urban-dance soundscape and quirky start-and-stops, ‘Sorry, Sorry’ is strangely addictive. There are almost too many things going on under the surface melody - vocodered murmurs rubbing against steely beats - but there is a palpable hunger to create something new, to make the most out of a pop song structure, and it has wildly succeeded on both accounts. No apologies needed; this is as exhilarating as it gets.

- Thor Balanon