Because AIBECK loves us, they dropped the first track from the IDOL COUNTER ATTACK album, coming out in three weeks’ time.

I warn you, give this time; it has rock in it, but at the bottom, like some dastardly musical form of old-school Dannon yogurt.

You know, I really don’t get AIBECK. I give them a lot of the benefit of the doubt because An’z, but they’re all over the dang place, and not always in a good way. I keep thinking that they’re going to pull a stealth total-wildness campaign like what got us to SHINGEKI, but I don’t think that’s it — I think it’s just a lot of throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.

That said, they’ve never kidded around about their ambitions — getting into the TIF undercard this past year didn’t work out, but it was like a taste — so I’m sure that they’ll eventually settle into a sweet spot and make it work. 2017 wasn’t a hugely impressive year for loud idol from a volume or positive-shock-value standpoint, but it was a great year for quality, as more and more talented creators are getting involved in the process of making idols’ music. It stands to reason that the AIBECKs of the world are going to be the biggest recipients.