Today's Pick

Neither settling down nor bright tie-dye beachwear are things we would normally associate with The Pretty Reckless frontwoman Taylor Momsen, but after telling The Metro she wants a husband, the actress turned rock star has picked a perfect day at the beach and dropped a raunchy new video for the band's track "Messed Up World (F'd Up World)," the third single taken from the female-fronted act's latest sophomore album, "Going To Hell," which rages with the upbeat, beat-wise humor that hard rock has suppressed ever since grunge.
"One day, I'd love to have children and get married," the 20-year-old singer is speaking out about her hopes to settle down sometime in the future. "It would have to be the perfect person. I don't know who that will be. At the moment I'm married to my guitar and my notebook." Written by Momsen with Ben Phillips, "Messed Up World," was originally called "F'd Up World," shows off a grittier side of Momsen's voice. We find the former Gossip Girl star alternating between singing with her The Pretty Reckless band, and playing on the beach with a few of her girlfriends friends. Just in time for summer!
Directed by Momsen herself with Jon J, the provocative clip features a tie-dye clad Momsen rocking out with the New York band while hanging out and relaxing with a few female friends at a beach party. As Momsen sings the lyrics, her friends holding cue cards with the lyrics written out in magic marker, and changing them as the words are sung, but that's tame compared to the rest of the music video.
Making a statement, the video also features a pair of raunchy girl on girl action on the beach at night, courtesy of "retired adult film star" Jenna Haze and Momsen's personal assistant Alie Jo Kvitek, in body paint grinding upon each other along with a few near make out sessions. But ever the provocateurs, The Pretty Reckless put a spin on what is going on onscreen as the female pairing eventually turns the tables on the viewers by holding up a sign that reads, "Is This What You Want to See?"

The Pretty Reckless have been climbing the charts with their single "Heaven Knows" and there's now a corresponding and very attention-grabbing "dark" visual for the song, which is the second single featured on alternative metal/hard rock band's imminent sophomore album "Going to Hell," due in stores on March 18. Considering the titles of the songs on the album, the journey to hell appears to be something The Pretty Reckless are spent a lot of time pondering. And hey, it might be kinda fun to go along for the ride.
The first single and title track from "Going to Hell" was hardcore rock music, and for the follow-up, frontwoman Taylor Momsen and The Pretty Reckless slow it down a bit and add a little soul, continues where the first hardcore rock "Going To Hell" left off. Shocking, lurid antics are sort of the point of the "Heaven Knows," so we're not being entirely gutter-brained. The song rocks a powerful rhythmic guitar with a striking refrain that Momsen delivers dead-on: "Oh no, heaven knows, we belong way down below." Once again considering spiritual matters of sin, redemption, the afterlife, and all of the attendant rock-and-roll tropes that come with the territory.
Shot on location in Miami, the Jon J and Momsen-co-directed striking clip, sees 20-year-old Momsen as a rock n' roll savior strutting down the halls of a school in a black robe until entering one of the smoke-filled darkened classrooms where a group of innocent children are being fed subliminal messages on multiple television screens, and some not-so-innocent-looking adults to illustrate drug use and eternal damnation and play out the concept of how a culture becomes brainwashed by sex and violence. But what will have viewers buzzing is later Momsen pulls back her robes to reveal she is wearing nothing but the band's customized Gothic black cross logo on her body.
Momsen says of the video and track's inspiration, "How do you sum up a song that is metaphorically speaking about everyone's life from any general perspective on video? You understate it. We decided to film variations of all of the issues we as a people are facing, whether personal, political or social. We took a lot of shots, each representing some social constant or emotional struggle. Some overt, some subtle, but it's all in there. Everything is thrown at you from the day you're born, you're only chance is to think for yourself... which is not as simple as it sounds." Simple, no, but Momsen does seem to have focused on doing exactly that.

The Pretty Reckless is back after an extended leave of absence with a typically dark, gloomy and slightly demonic music video for "Going to Hell," the lead single and title track from the band's upcoming sophomore studio album, to be released in early 2014. As frontwoman of the hard-rocking outfit, Taylor Momsen has been making a name for herself outside her acting career. With the band's latest video, "Going to Hell," it's safe to say that she is firmly entrenched in the world of rock music.
"Rock & roll needs to make a resurgence," insists Momsen, speaking to her belief that the genre has slipped from the mainstream. "It needs to come back in a big way and take over again." The 20-year-old singer, whose band The Pretty Reckless broke out in 2010 with their alt-rock debut "Light Me Up," says she's fully prepared to hold up her end of the bargain. "We're really trying to come to something unique and different," she tells Rolling Stone of "Going to Hell," which references the devastation in a hard-charging, riff-heavy blitzkrieg. Momsen wrote it during the band's downtime as they struggled to regain their footing.
On the sinister inspiration behind the song, the metal band's frontwoman said, "I've done all these things, I've toured the world, I've seen all these sins and horrible things going around. And I have to tell you about it." So, naturally, the "Going to Hell" video is based on the seven deadly sins. "I worked closely with our director, Tim Mattia. It's based around the seven deadly sins and these kind of crazy vignettes and exaggerated versions of these sins, done artistically. Whether they'll look like sins to you or not, who knows, but there's definitely some interesting footage that I would check out," Momsen added.
The Tim Mattia-directed clip truly matches the intensity of the song. It opens with Momsen whispering in a preacher's ear, "Don't bless me father for I have sinned," setting the stage for a clip filled with Momsen's dance with the dark side. The song itself rocks with a hard-driving and infectious beat and Momsen's powerful vocal. Meanwhile the scantily clad frontwoman delivers the track while looking flawless in a black latex catsuit, corrupting a priest, having a feast with her slaves, and something that looks like an orgy in a cinema room, and posing with a snake, laying amongst a hedonistic pit of bodies and holding the forbidden apple, driving home the point of the song.

The Pretty Reckless just unveiled a music video in support of their latest slow-paced moody ballad "You," the closing track from the post-grunge band's studio debut "Light Me Up." It follows its lead singer Taylor Momsen as she sits alone in an empty room while crooning the love lullaby and watching footage of her passionate makeout session with her lover during their happier day. She's quite impressive!
The 18-year-old, who's known for portraying Jenny Humphrey on the CW television series 'Gossip Girl,' is usually seen tearing up the stage in revealing outfits, belting out songs with the casual irreverence which has become her trademark. But the new video for "You" feature a rather softer Momsen. It's a departure from her usual hard-edged rock, where she's banging out tunes on stage, and Momsen is working so hard at being a “rock star,” she kind of grows on you. Anybody who wants it that bad deserves some sympathy.
Led by a simple acoustic guitar melody and string section, Momsen sends a soothing message and sweetly croons about love and proves she's got a serious set of pipes. The track is a sweet, beautiful and whimsical love lullaby - a complete departure from the band's hard-core rock music. A ballad about heart-break, the track has a country edge, which you'd be forgiven for thinking is a bit more Taylor Swift than the average dose of Momsen. The Meiert Avis-directed video finds Momsen packing her things after a break-up and stumbling upon happier memories of her relationship.
Momsen is uncharacteristically calm in new video, but retains her famous panda black eyeliner and scant attire. Perhaps this calmer image is something we can expect more of in the future. The clip is interspersed with back and white video flashbacks of Momsen with her lost love, and sees the former 'Gossip Girl' starlet walk into a bleak room wearing only a white vest and black knickers. She then strums away on her guitar, the more low-key feel of the video in keeping with the gentle tempo of the lullaby-like ballad.