10 hours ago, -Jay- said:

This song, and honestly the overall package, isn't doing much of anything for me at all. I don't like or dislike the song, it's inoffensively straight down the middle - and very dated! Debuting with a close retread of One Direction's Up All Night era... this doesn't say much for them having a fresh or exciting identity of their own. What it does seem to suggest, more so, is that Simon thinks what worked back then, can work again. Maybe it will, we'll see.

This project comes across to me as Simon wanting to prove that he still has the midas touch, and grasping for relevance for himself. This front cover gave me such a huge ick...

Basically my thoughts too. The fact he’s shoehorned himself into the centre of their promo and even had the documentary named after HIM suggests this project is more about him than them. 🤷 The 1D-lite debut written by the 1D writing camp is the biggest eye roll. There was me thinking we were about to get a Beautiful Things-level song. 😂

Also the 7 isn’t working for me. I think they should’ve dropped Danny and the Irish guy tbh.

At the moment I’m getting more Union J than One Direction. An album full of One Direction cast off’s (if they get that far) and dropped like a stone when their 15 minutes is up.

I’m getting more Stereo Kicks tbh. 🥲

I like the song, it's really fun and I'll get a good few plays out of it - can't resist a fun, catchy boyband track, and it's very early 1D which sonically is great to my ears.

As a band, I'm struggling to buy into them, for many of the reasons Jay shared so eloquently. It feels like a Simon vanity project above all else (that magazine cover is insane), with damage control after some pretty disastrous interviews regarding One Direction over the years, and no real standing in modern music for a while now. This song does feel a lot like rehashing what worked the first time round, at the expense of any real identity for the group themselves. They're talented vocalists, but they don't really work as a package for me, and the TV show didn't convince me that there's chemistry running through the group.

I do hope they're able to make use of their talent soon and make music that represents them. They're obviously not breaking through commercially just yet, almost nobody gets a hit with their debut single these days, but I think they'll need to stand out more to really make an impact.

That said, I'll keep bopping in the meantime x

They've appeared at #32 on the First Look chart about 100 places higher than I thought they'd be lmao, but not complaining. What a bop!

I really like the song. Can't wait for more.

There's far too many members in this band - should have stuck to a maximum of 4. The song is mediocre as well.

It's definitely early 1D esque shame it won't have any of the chart success, 34 on first look isn't very good be lucky to be top 100 friday, which is a shame really

CD / vinyl singles are available from their store, if anyone here would like to own it, but they're not due to ship until 20th Feb https://shop.december10.com/

The first look position of #32 and Monday midweek position of #49 is largely because of CD single sales. They were sold at a pop up event over the weekend! Their streaming and downloads aren't too strong so far. Therefore I doubt it'll stay Top 100 on Friday as things stand.

To be fair to them, going Top 100 in the singles charts with their debut in week 1 would be impressive in this day and age, so if they don't do that, I wouldn't immediately write them off. I wonder if Simon's particularly up to date with how the chart works these days, if so he shouldn't anticipate a great chart position straight off the bat.

Shame really because its very good

Girl Thing all the way back in 2000 is the proof, if any were needed, that projects which are just a front for Simon's own hubris and ego never end up gaining traction because, as half the comments attest here, people see right through it.

Of course it's not the boys' fault, and one hopes they'll be able to springboard to other opportunities after this. Because I don't honestly see this lasting beyond the next 10 months.

Manages to chart at #72! Massive success for a debut single. Still got the song on repeat, love it loads.

They've also released a stripped version:

Their vocals are insane. Also love that they play instruments too - the full package!

I actually think the fact it went top 100 is a good achievement for a debut. Especially considering its streaming looked like it was a bit non-existent.

However, unless its going to climb, or have some longevity then it's probably going to go down as a flop. But this does seem to be the age of not writing songs off immediately, so will be interesting to see if it climbs, or manages to stick around.

Yeah 38 or 39 in first look on Sunday so actually being top 100 is pretty impressive

I was surprised to see them at #72 considering its lack of presence in the various streaming platform charts. During the midweeks I assumed it was strongly down to physical sales, but evidently not considering it's just #14 in the physical chart, so its sales are majority thanks to streaming. I suppose it could have been lingering consistently just underneath the Top 200 on Spotify/Apple Music etc charts, and with the state of ACR/SCR in the OCC chart clearing up space, then that's how it results in #72. Well done to them for charting, it's a reasonable start that can be built on.

HOWLING at Simon apparently expecting a top 5 debut for this! He really doesn’t have a clue these days…

The problem is that the show went out on Netflix and, given audiences aren't really going there for documentaries like this specifically, it wouldn't have reached as many people as if it was a three parter on ITV.

Silly to expect top 5 though. I don't think anyone has debuted that high in ages.

I don’t think the problem is Netflix though, and I don’t think it being on BBC or ITV would have made one bit of difference (see: dearALICE’s six-part BBC documentary, and despite there being a lack of egotistical management doing press rounds to have us believe otherwise too we’re not seeing any of the bands from Building the Band concerned about the charts or shoving themselves down our throats so bullishly). The problems are Simon’s expectations and him thinking the rest of the world still lives in a music landscape of the early 2000s. He’s delusional.

They've got a sold out tour and a top 100 debut single (in its debut week) - they are outdoing a lot of new boybands so i'd consider them doing quite well? Obviously top 5 expectations shows Simon's ignorance of how the charts work right now, but they must be bringing in the money with touring and merchandise revenue which seems strong.

I think the programme kinda showed that Simon was out of touch with how things worked now - even to get people to audition for the band stalled initially well unless that was just for the documentary 🤣