Today, August 17th, marks the first anniversary of Dreamcatcher‘s EP Dystopia: Lose Myself. This means it’s officialy been a year since they became my favorite KPop girl group. As a rock and metal kid growing up, Deukae’s (deulim kaechyeo) music especially fascinates me since they incorporate elements of rock/metal and horror into their unique brand of KPop.
I was already one year into my KPop conversion by the time I discovered Dreamcatcher, so it really didn’t matter to me if they sounded cute or whatever. The first DC song I listened to was Can’t Get You Out of My Mind (from Dystopia: Lose Myself) which has an electro-house vibe, a genre I really like. And the song was in English, so that caught my attention. What sealed the fandom deal was Break the Wall (still from Lose Myself), which was a full-on rock song, reminiscent of Evanescence. To this day, I still get kilig by Break the Wall’s double-pedal drums at the end of the song.
Speaking of Break the Wall, the video below from DC’s comeback showcase convinced me that I am in love with lead vocalist Yoohyeon, and she became my bias in Dreamcatcher (possibly my ult? it’s a fight between her Blackpink’s Lisa). My only complaint about this video, though, is that only 6 of them are performing because at the time Handong was stuck at home in Wuhan, which you might know as ground zero of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dongie’s return to Korea in September made me extremely happy because I got to see OT7 together for the first time since I started stanning.
Since then, to paraphrase the lunatics themselves, I can’t get them out of my mind. I legitimately have not fanboy-ed over something since I became a Lakers fan (really, when I started getting into basketball) and that was over 20 years ago. I didn’t even have this same reaction with all the rock bands I love.. and I saw Incubus live!!!!! Don’t get me wrong, that show is still one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. But really, the only interest of mine that could compete with Dreamcatcher in terms of my… giddiness(?) are the Lakers.
Stanning Dreamcatcher is one rabbit hole I do not wish to climb out of, at least not in the immediate future. Again, the whole rock concept is the biggest contributor to this fascination I guess the second biggest factor is their relatability. They’re not a big group, their company Dreamcatcher Company (and its parent company Happy Face Entertainment) is not among the companies that pop to mind when one talks about KPop talent agencies. They had to compensate for this lack of mainstream fame with actual talent and hard-work.
I’m not knocking on big companies since four of the first five KPop groups I became a fan of are from The Big Three (Blackpink, Twice, Red Velvet, and ITZY). I love them as well. It’s just that rooting for small, underdog teams hits different. you know (pretty rich coming from a Lakers fan lmao). Dreamcatcher really fits that mold. They;re all incredibly talented in their own right.
Like I said earlier, their personalities are so relatable to the average shmuck like you (probably) and I. It’s easy picturing out being friends with any and all of the members. Now, when I look at the more globally popular idols, like say Blackpink’s Jenny (and I love Nini, she’s my girl), she feels like the epitome of what a celebrity is in that her lifestyle is vastly different from mine (and again, from yours as well assuming you’re another average shmuck like me). Then we have Kim Yoohyeon who drools on herself while talking on VLive, accidentally wearing her shirts to public inside out, and shamelessly talking about poop? That just appeals to me because I like most people enjoy relating to things we love.
I could talk on and on and on about how much I love Dreamcatcher but I guess you get it at this point. I’ll just end this by saying stan Dreamcatcher, stream their new EP Summer Holiday, and stream the music video for BEcause on YouTube!
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Also, in the off chance that fans of the girl groups I referenced in this post, please don’t cancel me lol I love them as well. I became fans of them way before Dreamcatcher. I’m a friend!!!
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