BESTie debuted as my favorite new girl group for their year, and I've enjoyed a lot of their releases since then, but this one is definitely not my favorite. The track is actually hella catchy. The bright brassy notes of the instrumental play well with the sass in the girls' voices. It's well-spatialized and beautifully energized and it moves well over the beat. I really do like it. And I LOVE the styling and the set aesthetics of the music video. It really is quite gorgeous. Which makes the fact that I don't really like the message a bit tragic.
           Admittedly, I usually try not to say that political or social standpoints are 'wrong' per se. I only make a big deal about things if what's perceived as an 'opinion' is actually an attack. The difference being fairly simple: a basic opinion is something like I don't like cats, a politicized opinion is something like I hate people who don't like cats, and an attack is I think it's okay to kick people who don't like cats. Both are technically opinions, but can you see how one's a problem? Things like JYP's recent awful MV are attacks, promoting Rape Culture. Things like this are just opinions, but politicized opinions. The lyrics themselves are saying that the narrator is straightforward in being entirely dismissive of people who like her because of her appearance, and that such shallow attraction isn't worth her time. The lyrics make the statement softer, by explaining that this opinion has come about after a long string of empty relationships where appearance was everything. The lyrics depict a frustrated girl with an unfortunate track record with romance so that now all she sees is the sort of thing she doesn't want.
           The MV is not quite so forgivable. The MV takes the idea of dismissing people for their base-attraction to the narrator and takes it one step further to actively rejecting them. The girls are in search of true love and the glasses they find show them the lecherous fantasies of all the men that they encounter. I find fault with this for two reasons, first of all, the glasses are showing fantasies, internal wants and inappropriate yearnings that DO NOT SURFACE IN THE BOYS' EXTERNAL BEHAVIOR. Punishing someone for their thoughts is bridging into Brave New World or 1984 type dystopian insanity. The second reason I'm not a fan is that it shows literally every male presence as having such fantasies, and absolutely none of the female ones, because obviously all men are pigs and all women are pure and innocent. Yeah, Sexism might still be a thing... just maybe. --_--'
            Women, believe it or not, can like and want sex. And men are not horrible, inhuman creatures with purely lecherous intentions, not even the ones that indulge in daydreaming about putting their hands all over a pretty girl they just met. Fantasy is not something that should be policed. No one is a bad person for wanting sex. It becomes inappropriate if that desire for sex leads to the doling out of unwanted attentions. The ONLY guy that behaves even remotely like that is the blue-suit dude that buys them drinks. That could make someone uncomfortable and could genuinely be considered a breach of personal space. Unfortunately for people who are made uncomfortable by it, buying a drink for the person you're interested in is a basically universal flirting convention... Of course, refusing a drink that someone's bought for you is becoming more acceptable. Every other guy in the MV is just going about their lives, being generally decent people for what limited context we see of them.
             Other than that, I love the choreo, if fabulously fun and playful. I've already mentioned that the styling is gorgeous, but it's just so true that have to bring it up again. The track is incredibly catchy and very well-produced. Additionally, I enjoy that the gay couple is represented just like any other set of guys save for the fact that their fantasies are focused on each other instead of on the girls. My final comment is just a small thing, the menu in the outdoor cafe is selling hot dogs for more than 8 bucks... so either that is a DAMN good hot dog, or that's one hella over-priced processed-meat-product. Maybe it'd be okay if you got a few of them in one order, because even 3 bucks is already pushing it for a wiener in my opinion.
            Back on point: I want to like this release. I REALLY want to like it. But I just vehemently disagree with the main message being conveyed. I'm knocking it back at least two points. It's kind of tragic, honestly. Also, I really want to see a straight choreography video! The choreo looks like a TON of fun, but it's hard to get a good look at the whole of it in the MV and when the only practice video released so far is the Eye Contact Ver (which I don't approve of as a whole... that sort of sexiness fantasy is better left to the MV dance-versions, when I get I practice video, I expect it to be a straight shot of the practice session... that's not BESTie's fault, and they are certainly not alone in having this sort of release, but still...).

        I love the styling, and the interesting sets, and all the bright patterns. The choreography is ridiculously fun, I've caught myself doing it in the dining hall when I'm looking around for something good to eat and this track come up on my ipod. All in all it's very playful and light.
        It does get at some interesting issues, the whole perfect-body cult worship idea for one. The only thing I really took issue with was that, even though it's playing with the stereotype of women being demanding and needy and holding ridiculously high standards, it not playing with them to the point of overturning them. The cult-worhsip idea does get a little kicked off, but the rest of it is presented as much more acceptable. That bothered me a little bit, but not too much as there are far worse ways to represent a stereotype than as a quirky thing to poke fun at (and there are worse stereotypes frequently employed by Kpop production teams).
        The track itself is catchy and cute. It's straightforward and simple without being obnoxiously repetitive. There's no depth to the lyrics at all really and there's no evolution to them either, but the track is well balanced and the instrumental elements evolve over the course of the piece to keep things interesting. It's not one for the record books, but it's certainly fun to listen to; not at all a disappointing comeback.

        The traditional idea of "Cute" is typically the exact opposite of strong. I've never understood that rendering. And that is why I like BESTie's debut. It's a very cutesy concept, the flutter of a heart in the midst of a crush and the MV is very bright and their looks are clean and simple. And yet, the song is not weak or soft, it doesn't give an inch. It's got a powerful melodic current and a kicking beat undertow. Strong vocals that have huge potential (despite the bits of heavy auto tune) and are beautifully polished for rookies. The song moves fabulously, it's catchy as hell, and makes good use the different vocals. The lyrics are simple and cutesy enough for a cute concept, but are forceful and demanding enough to show that these girls will take action to get their crush into their arms.
        The MV is fabulous. It plays off the cute image to generate a sexy sporty yet still adorable thing, an idea of cute that is not so innocent. The choreography reinforces that and works beautifully with the song. So smoothe and so sexy, and yet perfectly suitable to show a little sister.
        In short, I LOVE this.
        This is the sort of innovation I like to see, taking two concepts (cutesy clean and sassy strong) and slamming them together into something that's brand new and really works. Hello Venus was another group that managed this for a debut, but they've disappointed me since. I'm very hopeful that BESTie will be able to pull off what Hello Venus didn't manage. They certainly have the potential to do it!