THE PRETTY RECKLESS

One night several years ago, Taylor Momsen’s father took his daughter to a White Stripes show. “Before that, the only concert I’d been to was Britney Spears,” says the singer, songwriter, and guitarist. “But once I saw Jack White onstage, that was it. I grew up as a dancer and I thought you had to dance to be a girl in the music industry. Then I saw the White Stripes and I was like, ‘No, you don’t. I can do that.’” Momsen was nine.

Jack White’s raw power and deceptively simple guitar-and-vocal attack proved to be highly influential on Momsen, who began humming melodies before she could talk and writing songs at the age of five after falling in love with The Beatles. “I was obsessed with them,” she says. “I also loved Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd, Audioslave, Soundgarden, Oasis, and Nirvana. That’s what I listened to. My rock idols are all men.”

So it’s not surprising that Momsen channels a lot of masculine energy on 'Light Me Up', her rock-and-roll-heroine-in-the-making debut album with her band THE PRETTY RECKLESS. The songs run the gamut of emotions, alternating at times between seething rage and a bruised vulnerability. With Momsen’s inky vocals, pummeling riffs, and swaggering attitude, 'Light Me Up' sounds a bit like what might have happened had Led Zeppelin been fronted by “a chick.” The album’s ferocity could raise an eyebrow from those expecting a pretty, blonde teenager to gravitate toward straight-up pop songwriting. “It’s heavier than people might expect from me,” says Momsen, “But this album is the most honest expression of who I truly am.”

'Light Me Up' is an unflinchingly honest chronicle of Momsen’s experiences, filtered through her unique point of view. “The record is about life,” she says. “It covers everything: love, death, and music itself. It’s rock and roll. It’s sex. It’s drugs. It’s religion. It’s politics. Each song tells a story about the trials and tribulations and emotional struggles that I’ve experienced or observed. It’s not a happy pop record, but it’s not Satan-worshiping either. The lyrics aren’t meant to be taken literally, they are open to interpretation.”

Momsen first hooked up with producer Kato Khandwala (Blondie, Drowning Pool, Paramore, Breaking Benjamin) and songwriter, Ben Phillips in October 2008. By the spring of last year, they felt they had hit upon a sound that felt authentic to her. “The three of us have similar musical taste, so it was easy to find that singular vision,” Phillips says. “Kato and I worked very hard to help Taylor reach her potential because we could see how talented she was right off the bat. She went into the vocal booth and began to sing and we turned to each other and went, ‘Holy sh*t, she’s f**’ing great.’ Her voice was astonishing. So many artists these days let their voices be discombobulated by computers. Taylor doesn’t do that. She doesn’t need to. She can walk into a room and kick your ass.”