Sometimes summer highlights emerge from the most unexpected places. Over the past few days, we’ve had a flurry of strong seasonal offerings from some of K-pop’s girl groups, but with My Summer Manual (나의 여름 설명서), the variety show spawned co-ed group JAESSBEE confidently throw their hat in the ring. They’ve got some major firepower behind them, with producers like Bumzu and Shannon Bae behind the song’s creation. The swaggy ALLDAY PROJECT may currently hold Korea’s chart glory, but I’ll take this fun little bop any day.
JAESSBEE put comedy at the forefront but bolster it with a loving nod to K-pop’s musical past. Their debut track referenced many of the sounds I loved from the industry’s third generation and My Summer Manual does the same. Its pulsing electro beat is extremely refreshing and keeps the bright energy aloft the entire running time. I wasn’t surprised to see some of TWS’s frequent producers working on this, as the track feels like it could have easily gone to a group like that (I mean, just listen to that pre-chorus!). This goes to show how carefully crafted the song is. This isn’t just some funny little trifle. It’s legitimately good and brings a sense of carefree fun to an idol landscape that can often take itself too seriously. I’ll be adding it to my burgeoning summer 2025 playlist for sure.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
This is so cute. And they al sound like good vocalists too. (I was not expecting all of them to have a higher register). I wish it had more in its structure (like a brIDGE-) but I was definitely smiling through this one so it did what it set out to do.
LikeLike
I go away for an hour or so, and a half dozen posts pop up. And almost to a one, they are all happy clappy songs of summer.
This one. Yes, another good happy clappy song for summer.
If I have reservations about it, the song and performance comes across as rather corny. It sounds like might have been a TWS song. Instead it was given to these three grownups who get to pretend that they are kids half their age. Some of the intonations sound like baby talk. Why couldn’t they have a real grown up song?
LikeLike
Summer is such a busy time, trying to balance planning vacations against the busiest month in my industry being June while also trying to keep my summer playlist up to speed. I would have loved having something this fun and carefree in my rotation in the last week, but better late than never at least!
LikeLike