As a fan of Taylor Momsen, or "Little Jenny" from Gossip Girl, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she was going to have a band named The Pretty Reckless. Judging from her love of leather jackets, knee-high boots, and excessive amounts of black eyeshadow, it was easy to figure out that she her sound would lean towards rock. But how good was she going to be? The transition from actor to musician is always a difficult one, especially when everyone is watching, waiting, and creating assumptions about how great (or bad) the music will be. I hoped she wouldn't sound like the other pop-rock cash cows provided by Disney (not that some of them don't actually have singing talent like Demi Lovato.)
Then her demo came out. The comments below her "Blender" music video consisted of all positive words; rude prejudgements were quickly swapped with words of praise and pleasant surprises. I liked that her voice sounded of experience already and that the actual music couldn't be mistaken for the silly work of a little garage band. The same went for her second demo "Zombie", which in my opinion, has the potential to be featured in a soundtrack of a darker type of movie. I was able to watch her perform that very song and many others at Hiro Ballroom (which is at 9th Avenue and 16th Street in New York City), and it was unreal; it felt like watching one of her performances on YouTube. The girl can most definitely carry a tune, and is very much in sync with the rest of her band. Her attitude between songs is young and playful even when the subject matter of her songs aren't (who knew heartbreaking relationships could provoke this type of music, especially from someone whose main worries should be on her SATs?) Overall, Taylor Momsen's band The Pretty Reckless is no disappointment, and if they play their cards right, they may very well be onto superstardom.
Here are two of The Pretty Reckless' demos and a live performance.
Zombie
Blender
Heart - Live
Subscribe to this comment's feed
