Here are my credentials (again): So, I was a fan of LOONA before their disbandment, but I always thought that they didn’t quite live up to the cleverness of their concept. I’m a fan of some of the subunits of NCT, especially Dream and WayV, and a bunch of their soloists, but my opinion on them really varies. So, I’m interested (and a little concerned) by TripleS, and excited to see where this goes! Let’s get into it.
Album #1: Assemble 24 (Full Group)
Girls Never Die, as is fitting for the complete group finally being one, takes the good from many past releases: the chanting from Girls’ Capitalism, the anthemic feeling from Generation, and especially the sense of community and connection through dance that’s been a throughline through their work, and manages to build them into something even better. I really like the many layers of vocals and how much depth it gave the song. It has a solid chorus, a flowing beat that doesn’t get swept away in its own smoothness, and instead manages to hold its own. It’s powerful in an understated way, as powerful as a song like it can be, and its final minute feels like the start of something enormous. I hope they continue with this kind of sound.
With Assemble 24, we finally have a full album. I enjoyed the fast pace of Heart Rider, the dreamy quality of Midnight Flower (my hidden gem), and the bombastic chorus of 24. Also, S, the intro, is just fantastic. That rock guitar and chant? Very Kiss Of Life, in a good way, and I wish that carried through to the rest of the song.
Single #3: Inner Dance (Glow)
Inner Dance’s beat is choppy in a way that reminded me a bit of Cherry Talk, but thankfully, it’s much smoother, not interrupting its own flow. Unfortunately, though, it’s not that interesting beyond that, sounding like a retread of many of TripleS’ past singles. For a song called “Inner Dance”, it doesn’t make me want to dance; in fact, it makes me a bit sleepy. Is that mean? Maybe. But look, I listen to upwards of 100 k-pop songs a week, and unless a song is pretty good, it’s just not going to stick out to me.
Album #2: Hit The Floor (Visionary Vision)
Hit The Floor brings together what have so far been disparate parts of TripleS’ discography: the down-to-earth videos, the darker aesthetics, and the late-at-night city pop sound. But it does this in a way that is, to be blunt, harsh on the ears. I’ve never been a sing-talk person (see my NCT 127 review), and this song does absolutely nothing to convince me otherwise. It’s just awkward chorus after awkward verse, and none of it feels true to either the girls of Visionary Vision or TripleS as a whole. There’s a couple brighter spots, like the more melodic parts of the pre-choruses, but overall…oof. While I wasn’t a fan of earlier songs but still liked them, I just fully do not enjoy this one at all.
From the album, I enjoyed the ethereal sound of Choom (which I’m surprised wasn’t the single) and the percussive beat of Vision. But really, this release is just a resounding shrug from me.
Album #3: Assemble ’25 (Full Group)
Between its title and the acapella horror-movie esque chanting that it opens with, I was expecting Are You Alive to freak me out. And rest assured it does; the entire MV has a slowly creeping…well, creepiness that gets under your skin. I’m not entirely sure what the story was, but I’m at least 90% sure that someone is dead. All of them are dead? Or at the very least, there’s some kind of cult. The return of the chanting as the hook just doubles down on the unsettling feeling that it radiates, and add that to the dancing around a fire, flashes of car crashes and drowning, the far-too-similar school uniforms, and the many abandoned buildings, I was left honestly quite impressed.
I really wish that the song had capitalized on the rock influences of the album opener, since I think that combining the horror elements with a sound that sets it apart from their other titles would have worked really well. It’s in the top half of their work for me, definitely, because even though it creeps me out I appreciate that it does something new, but I don’t see myself relistening much outside of Halloween.
From the album, another LP, I enjoyed the hyper pop sound of Detective Soseol, the call-and-response electro chorus of Too Hot (my hidden gem), and the vocalized slow-mo hook of Friend Zone. I think this is one of their strongest releases; it’s very cohesive but each song also stands on its own, and they bleed together much less than their others.
EP #6: Beyond Beauty (MSNZ)
[Note: This subunit has four subunits (Moon, Sun, Neptune, and Zenith) inside of it, because….of course it does. Each subunit picks a different song from the album to make a title track, but for purposes of time I decided to just choose my favorite to cover more in depth.]
Fly Up, the title track for MSNZ Neptune (sighs), builds of off the same aesthetic that Are You Alive started, one I often refer to as quasi-black-and-white. Everyone’s in black leather (or pleather), sparkly eyeshadow, and god forbid we have any color beyond one girl’s hair. The MV alternates between a gym (?) and fairly minimalistic sets with mirrors for dancing scenes. It’s simple but it works. As for the song itself, it’s definitely in the top few of the titles for me. There’s a solid beat, a synthy pop sound layered on top, encouraging lyrics, and raps that don’t feel out of place. I may not be enthralled, but I’m pleasantly surprised that I liked this one.
From the EP, I enjoyed the mix of languages in the intro and the light touch of Cameo Love, and the…well, bubbliness, of Bubble Gum. My hidden gem was Q & A, which starts similarly to many other TripleS songs but has a synthy rush of a chorus that makes it something special.
Verdict: TL;DR
I’m glad I did this. I didn’t know anything about TripleS before this deep dive and I’ve certainly changed that. I didn’t have that much time during this review to watch content, but I did manage to sneak in TRC’s TripleS EVOLution interview and a few funny clips from the whole group’s weekly idol appearance. I hope I get the chance to know them better in the future.
My Top 5 songs are Generation, Cry Baby, Girls’ Capitalism, Girls Never Die, and Too Hot, with Colorful as an honorable mention. TripleS gets an 8.0 out of 10 from me. I thought that a lot of their work felt very similar, not just to their own releases but to other groups too, especially New Jeans. Comparing that to LOONA, or even NCT, whose subunits are very distinctive, it seems like an odd decision. Even reviewing them before I typed this up, I couldn’t remember even half of TripleS’ subunits.
Sometimes, they’ve added something new to the formula, and made really interesting songs that push the boundaries, especially in terms of music videos that seek to connect with their audience. But those are in the minority. Going for this kind of easy listening style isn’t necessarily a bad thing, of course; they’re very good at it. But it does mean that they struggle to stand out in the already very competitive industry. I can enjoy their music for what it is and can be to me, in this case in one ear and out the other study music, and also acknowledge that I’m never going to go out of my way to listen to it.
Next time, we’re onto a classic girl group. Tschüss!
Let me know your thoughts!