August is shaping up to be one of the year's most consequential months for K-pop, and not simply because of the volume of releases. Beneath the summer comeback rush runs a set of stories the industry will be watching closely — major groups returning with reshaped lineups, veteran soloists reclaiming the spotlight and a fresh crop of rookies betting on the dog days of summer to break through. Boy band Stray Kids returns Friday with the mini album "THIS & THAT," the JYP Entertainment group's first release since November's "DO IT" extended its unprecedented streak of Billboard 200 No. 1 debuts to eight. All eight tracks, including the self-titled lead single, were written by the group's in-house production trio 3RACHA, and the album arrives mid-stride in a new world tour that kicked off in Seoul in late July. Sharing the date is indie rock band wave to earth, whose album "bad pieces" ends a two-year recording silence. With more than 7 million monthly Spotify listeners, the trio has quietly built one of the largest global audiences of any Korean act outside the idol system, making its ret