Girl group RESCENE have gone viral several times in their career, but this latest boom seems to be sticking. Their 2024 highlight Love Attack has been lodged in MelOn‘s top ten for awhile now. In fact, as of writing this review, it just hit number one. Rather than attempt to steal that song’s spotlight with new material, the girls have opted to come back with a remake of a K-pop classic.
Pretty Girl was originally released way back in 2008 by legendary girl group Kara. Though far from my favorite Kara single, it’s one of a handful of tracks that helped bring producers Sweetune to prominence. As delighted as I am to see RESCENE’s 2026 success, I’d be even happier if their Pretty Girl smashed the charts and somehow beckoned Sweetune out of the cave they’ve been hiding in for the past few years. There is no greater K-pop producer and those in charge of this remake seem to know this because they’ve changed barely anything about the original.
Because of this, it’s hard to rate this version of Pretty Girl. I have the original at an “8.75,” though objectively it probably deserves higher for its impact alone. This update bolsters the instrumental a bit but misses the iconic vocal layering that makes Sweetune songs so unique. RESCENE do a fine job with the material and if nothing else I hope it inspires newer fans to check out the original and Kara’s discography as a whole. Now that we’ve remade a classic, can we get new material within this same musical vein?
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
They are so charismatic 😌
I like the slightly updated and more modernish instrumental and their voices are really nice!
8.75/10💖🩵💜
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it sounds very similar to KARA’s original, so it’s automatically good. i agree on the vocal layering though. how does the original, released almost 20 years ago, have better vocal layering?? however besides that i am very pleased (especially after that nightmare that was the remake of KARA’s Mr.)
rating: 8.75. might grow.
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vocal layering seems to be a dying artform tbh
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It definitely is in K-pop!
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this might just be me but i feel like a lot the voices in newer kpop songs sound much more…thinner? i dont know how to really put it. but when i listen to a lot of older kpop songs the voices sound much more lush/powerful.
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Yes, idols are not singing with the same force as they used to for sure. Global pop stars aren’t either, though. Virtuosic singing is not in vogue and hasn’t been for some time, unfortunately.
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when i think of perfect vocal layering, i usually think of this:
such a good song
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While I do appreciate the faithfulness to the original song, I expected the remake to adapt the classic into a more modern version of the song. This just feels more like a cover rather than a remake (maybe I am too demanding). I also hope for a resurgence of old kpop sounds, but New Gen Z fans seems not to keen into the old sounds just by looking on the songs on the top of the chart these days.
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Impossible not to like such a respectful cover of a classic. It suits them so well. The sweeter vocals and sound design really appeal to me as far as changes go. 9
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I personally think it’s an odd choice to release a cover with virtually nothing changed at all, but of course, we’ve seen many times how poorly the other route can go. It’s just that as it is, there’s no reason for me to seek out this cover instead of just listening to the original. I’ll watch the performances though, because I love Rescene. I’m excited for their career boom and I look forward to their next original song sweeping the charts.
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an absolute blessing of a cover after the horrifying slaughter of KARA’s Mister by BLINGONE… your harsh outlook on that song is still stuck in my mind LOL
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I’m guessing they were not planning on releasing something until their next ep/album, then out of nowhere they went viral and thre company wanted to take advantage of the current attention they’re getting so they whipped up a cover of a classic kpop song.
For the actual song, I think the production carries tbh. The melodies are a little dry and repetitive, but the instrumental is awesome (instrument choices, chord structures and progressions, the KEY CHANGE). I also love the vocal harmonies throughout the track. Kpop needs more harmonies (not just 2 part… full chord harmonies plz) and I know Rescene’s production team isn’t afraid to use them (see: Pinball)
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easily a 9 (glad they didn’t change much) and can we please get sweetune songs for RESCENE
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It’s so kpop to have a group go viral for multiple moments of authenticity and sincerity and then capitalize on it with a nearly unchanged cover.
I’m not knocking it, to be clear, but it’s just so kpop.
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Im just so happy for Rescene’s sudden burst in popularity. I’ve been following them since Uh Uh and for me they seriously have a lot of good songs under their belt. It’s also always nice to see a small group get massive traction from something authentic. Brings me back to Brave Girls’ military performances or EXID Hani’s fancam.
This is honestly a pretty alright remake. I dont really think they want to overshadow the success that Love Attack is having right now so they went with something faithful to the original without doing anything drastic. I’m so glad a lot of the songs that I’ve listened to from them are actually going on the charts tho and I’m hoping that their actual comeback will deliver.
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ngl I was really hoping they’d troll everyone and cover f(x)’s ‘Pretty Girl’ instead of one of KARA’s most insipid songs. Oh well, at least Nick and Asian Junkie are happy.
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I mean, I’m neither happy nor sad about this. It’s a straightforward cover of a song I already own and listen to occasionally. If I’m in the mood for Pretty Girl, I’m almost certainly going back to the original. I just hope this somehow summons Sweetune, even though I know it probably won’t!
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EDIT: Oh well, at least Asian Junkie is happy!
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we should get a cover of KARA’S step 🙏
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No, we should be getting new music that’s as good as Step. I have very little use for covers unless the artist does something very different or somehow improves the song.
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The cover is too faithful to the original and does not do anything interesting. I would just listen to KARA’s Pretty Girl not RESCENE’s lol.
I saw comments where if they covered Rock U or Honey instead they would fit more and I agree with that. Especially Rock U since it’s still underrated as a title track? Oh well.
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i thought it was fine, but that’s because i love the original so i knew going into this one that i wouldn’t have many complaints (unless they made drastic changes to the instrumental, which thankfully they did not). i’ll still go for kara’s version any day of the week as i prefer their vocals, however this is a neat novelty to add to their discography. it’s an 8.75 for me as well. rescene is killing it lately and i cannot be happier for them- liked them since yoyo and i’m glad they’re getting the recognition they deserve!
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So happy about the Rescene-naissance, Runaway has been on heavy rotation for a while, their songs always have something anthemic a bit like early IVE
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It ultimately is a good addition to their discography, but I wish the muze would just give them love attack 2.0 already
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nah….i can’t rate this let alone give high rating like this…the fact that it is almost exactly the same as original..from the instrumental down to the way they sing the lines(just with less distintive voices than kara) makes it a very uninspired, lazy (cover branded as) ‘remake’ (which i guess technically is not wrong but just not the version/meaning of remake that i know) if they had made even any effort to change anything i would have appreciated it wayy more at least for the effort if nothing else. this is just….i might as well listen to the original. this brings nothing but the group’s current burst of fame which…good for them…any unknown group doing sth like this would probly be bashed or at best, ignored.
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I swear have heard this same sort of tune in another kpop song, but by them, but another group…just can’t remember.
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Fun fact : This remake was actually arranged by Han Jae-ho and Kim Seung-soo aka Sweetune themselves
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