“And all the neighbours whisper, ‘Isn’t it a shame? That little girl we knew was surely gone insane”
For years, it seemed like New York four-piece The Pretty Reckless were destined to be rock’s perennial bridesmaids. Despite touring with Guns N’ Roses, Evanescence and Halestorm since their formation in 2009, they never quite found their sound to make them truly stand out. After a now legendary tour in 2024 with AC/DC – and a period that saw frontwoman Taylor Momsen cement her rockstar status, first by pulling an Ozzy Osbourne and being bitten by a bat and then going viral last year inducting Soundgarden into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Pretty Reckless return to musical matters with their latest record Dear God. Described as their most uncompromising and emotionally raw album to date – or as Momsen describes it herself, ‘desperation set to music’ – it finds the band sounding ever more confident and fully realised than ever.
Right out of the gate, it’s some of their best work to date. After an acoustic prelude, lead single “For I Am Death” is an absolute powerhouse, Jamie Perkins’ drums slam into the ears, Ben Phillips’ guitar squeals like a motorbike engine roaring to life, Mark Damon’s bass growls with a vengeance, and Taylor Momsen is like Suzi Quatro. Her voice just rips through the lyrics, with a dry wit and a steamy delivery. This is old-style metal made for dive bars and all-nighters. They sound the tightest they’ve been in years.
It only gets better from there. Later on, the title track is an anthemic slice of post-grunge with a beautiful Deep Purple-inspired edge. It crashes into a titanic chorus somewhere between Audioslave and Ozzy Osbourne as she pleads with God to “keep her from the fire” as Phillips fires out chord after chord like a gunslinger. It’s arrestingly emotional material that just never let’s go.
Sadly, a drop at the mid-point robs the album of truly earning its stripes. “Spell On You” feels too much like their early work to justify inclusion in a record like this. A poor metaphor about a witch wanting to “put a spell” on the subject feels archaic at best and lazy at worst. The chug of Phillips’ guitar suddenly becomes phoned-in; worse still, Damon’s bass wanders aimlessly.
Like the best in the scene, just when you think they’re down, they make a rapid recovery. “Rollercoaster of Life” opens with a driving drumbeat from Perkins that provides the groundwork for a heartland rock-infused number. The lyrics even reference Tom Petty at one point with the line “All the vampires on the beach”, a little nod to ‘Free Fallin’ ’.
Towards the end, they rally even further. Opening with a sample of biblical thunder, “Dark Days” is Phillips’ chance to really shine as he delivers a guitar solo for the ages and one of the finest moments of the band’s discography. Momsen’s voice slinks along with a frightening warning: “Dark Days are coming so the Bible says/you’ll see the running as the sky turns red.”
As with all The Pretty Reckless records, the real magic arrives when Momsen strips it back. The final track is the first part of the “Life Evermore” trilogy of reflections that bookend and divide the album in non-chronological order. And what a moment it is, forty-three seconds of guitar and her battle-scarred voice reveal more than any other riff could do, an astounding vulnerability and tenderness behind the bravado. It’s like stripping down a Rolls-Royce just to its engine. This is no longer a band in the shadow of their heroes; The Pretty Reckless have finally crafted a sound that puts them alongside the best in the genre.
