It's Not A "Party" With SNSD Newest

The time has finally come; An official Korean Girls' Generation comeback without Jessica. Let me be straight with you here; I'm still kind of bitter about her not being there. I don't know quite how because she wasn't my favorite when she was in the group, but not after she's gone I've come to realize I really like her and I feel a bit sad about her absence. For that reason alone I was sure very skeptical about their comeback this summer, and turns out I had reason to be.



First of all; Is this a MV or a promotional video for Thai Airways? I know that SM has a serious thing about product placement but it's just way too obvious here. Not only does the first scene feature them going abroad in a Thai Airway's airplane but the final shot actually includes the logo as a sponsor. It makes me confused because how on earth could SM possibly need any more money to fund their video shoots? Although it's a bit irritating it's definitely not the most annoying part about this comeback. Yes, you heard me right.

Let's just talk about the song "Party" for a second or two, shall we? As it goes for having a title track that fits the season they've truly hit the nail on the head. The lyrics are describing the perfect summer party, and although they aren't the most complex lyrics I've heard they are very enthusiastic and for sure makes you wanna join the girls. The light-hearted, easy-going vibe of the song also suits summer quite well and I like the funky bass and guitar. However, the song is awfully boring. It took me more listens that it should to actually remember how it went, and I still think the melody is dull and generic. At points it's also quite cringe worthy, especially the "It's a party!" fill-ins and Tiffany's opening line. Although the lyrics aren't specifically childish, the outcome is definitely so.

What makes me the most mad though is that this should have been their chance to prove themselves to be the reigning queens of K-pop, but there's nothing special or exciting about this track. It literally could have been released by any other girl group. In fact I'm pretty certain that if it was released by another group it wouldn't have gotten any of the attention SNSD are receiving right now, that's how mediocre it is. While "Catch Me If You Can" definitely had it's faults too I still believe it would have been a better comeback track because it actually showed that these girls can bring it if they want to. It was powerful and intense with an amazing choreography, none of which this comeback includes.

Moving onto the video, which isn't as disappointing as the song. It does take place abroad indeed, and I have to say that they've really succeeded in finding gorgeous locations to shoot the video. I don't think there's anything prettier than a white beach and a crystal clear blue ocean, and that's where the majority of the video takes place as it works as the location for the dancing sequences. Even the individual shots are stunning, as the girls are surrounded by palm trees, exotic plants and flowers and a pool with water as blue as the sea.

The color editing too adds to the summery effect, as it's highly saturated and very brightened (the sun probably played part in that as well). Some people might find it a bit too saturated but I think it's beautiful, and it makes all the members look wonderful as well. I'm not too much of a fan of the added animated effects, such as the words "Party", "Summer" and "Yeah" popping up on the screen. Again, it makes it look more childish than it has to be. Nor do I like the indoor party scenes as much, mainly because it clashes with the outdoor shots in terms of literally everything but also because their outfits are way uglier.

Furthermore the styling in this video is also one of its better qualities, as all the girls look bright and lovely. Usually there's only one of them (or possibly two) that sports anything other than some shade of brown, but this comeback more than half of them have colorful locks. My personal favorites are Sooyoung's gorgeous bob and Taeyeon's cute candy-inspired hair. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Sunny's shade of red or Yoona's first time rocking blonde hair though, but they're still very pretty nonetheless. The clothes they're wearing are also perfectly suited for summer time, and are very much in the line of what I like to wear these time of the year. All the white fringe and lace looks beautiful and added with a pair of simple but stylish jean shorts it creates the perfect beach look.

Now onto what I found the most underwhelming about the video; The choreography. While I do think that it matches the vibe of the song and the summer theme, like the song it's pretty boring to look at does not make a great performance. Watching them perform this live without the sunny beach truly highlights how much the video played a part in turning this comeback into something respectable, because with the song and choreo standing on it's own it falls extremely short. I do feel like they went the safe, lazy route with this one, as it fails to make use of any of this group's dancing abilities. There's really no memorable move, and I do think that a choreography should have at least a few ones to make it stand out.


Despite having all the tools to turn this comeback into something spectacular, Girls' Generation puts out a nice but forgettable track with a disappointing choreography to boot. Although the video is beautiful to look at, the song definitely makes it not as appealing to watch over and over again, and it sucks because they all look gorgeous and the concept is equally so. I know that they have two more comeback tracks up their sleeve, "Lion Heart" and "You Think", and hopefully those two will be so amazing that they'll make me forget all about this.

Song: 2,75/5
Video: 3,7/5