MOODY MOMSEN'S MEDICINE

YOU know her face (or maybe not, if you're over 18).
She's the one who turned from the innocent little J to the bad girl hairband-wearing queen of mean in Gossip Girl.
She's the barely out-of-school face of Madonna and daughter Lourdes' new fashion range. But right now, she's the heavily made-up rock star that fronts The Pretty Reckless.

Taylor Momsen, who plays a one-off show at the 02 Academy Islington next week (Thursday, Aug 19) has accomplished a huge amount during her short 17 year years on this earth – and happily divided opinion amongst critics.

(No official video, this odd clip dubs the album recording over the live performance)

Right now, her eyeshadow is so black and limbs so spindly that The Corpse Bride would be jealous, while her hair's that trashy blonde that draws comparisons to the other, older dame of grunge Courtney Love.
But although her gruff vocals and moody attitude ring truly familiar, Momsen's having none of it.

She's carving out a reputation of her own and distancing herself from hints that she's anything like Love.

And this could well be true. Momsen claims to have been writing songs since she was five years old, and has been acting since the age of three, later going on to performing arts school. Love was into her 20s before entering the entertainment world – as Nancy Spungen in biopic Sid and Nancy, and only formed Hole at the age of 25.

Perhaps it's all that arts school training, but Momsen doesn't look the least bit uncomfortable squeezed between her unlikely band of relatively older, darker, hairier men during sofa interviews – that's bassist Mark Damon, percussionist Jamie Perkins and guitarist Ben Phillips, who co-writes songs with Momsen.
Aside from playing this year's V festival, the band's Islington appearance is their only scheduled show on these shores this month.

And while this talk of child actors and arts school probably jars with the grunge image, it's worth trying to forget this while listening to the music for the first time.
Album track My Medicine reveals the depth of soul that lies behind the cloud of celebrity obscuring the young musician's genuine talent, while Make Me Wanna Die is the teenage angst theme of the Gossip Girl generation.

So, if the following quote coming from the mouth of a 17-year-old is hard to swallow, then try to forget it when listening to the songs.
Here's Momsen's description of her debut album as an honest chronicle of her experiences: “The record is about life. 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.”
It'll be good to judge them on their merit when they reach Islington next week.

• Light Me Up, the debut album from The Pretty Reckless, is released on August 30 and single Miss Nothing comes out on August 23.