Could you plot that on a graph please, Katherine?

[Video][Website]
[5.75]

Katherine St Asaph: Let x = Circus.
[5]

Alfred Soto: Not a shock so much as a mild jolt in one of those therapeutic hot tubs.
[4]

Will Adams: I Can’t Believe It’s Not RedOne!
[6]

Iain Mew: It starts off as a decent version of the electro-charged aggression that I associate with 2NE1, though the chorus is a bit too straightforward and overused. Then it gets unbearably brought down by a meandering middle section. First of all there’s a build-up which doesn’t build up. Then there’s a talking bit which kills the momentum even further. I do like the way that they sing “laser” though.
[4]

Brad Shoup: Man, the way they enunciate “laser” is so stilted, like someone doing their American Nerd impression. (“Electric shock” is the same way, but I think Detroit passed a resolution in ’88 to make that mandatory.) Their interjections are polished, I’ll give them that. 
[5]

Patrick St. Michel: Although a lot of K-Pop singles from the past few years have embraced maximalism, “Electric Shock” is the only one I can remember that sounds claustrophobic. It has the same aggressive dance DNA found in 2NE1’s “I’m the Best,” but whereas that number found the group acting as a tag team to assert their greatness, f(x) form a tight circle to intimidate (the opening portion of the video shows what I’m thinking of here). The vocals come quickly and from all directions, with the rest of the group back up whoever is singing with “yeahs” and ohs,” like even they are surprised by what was just uttered. It’s the instances where the song gets quieter though, those breaths of air before the crush, that make it even better.  Constriction made fun.       
[8]

Colin Small: Its surprising for a track this noisy to use negative space as well as Soulja Boi.
[7]

Jonathan Bogart: Vibrant, zooming, pealing, and just electro-fritzed enough to sound exactly like 2012: this is pretty much exactly what I think of when I think of K-pop. Which means that all other pop has a really high bar to clear.
[7]