Album: The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock And Roll

★★★ THE PRETTY RECKLESS - DEATH BY ROCK AND ROLL Bewitching and raw, if not entirely original

The New York quartet's latest is bewitching and raw, if not entirely original

Four albums in and The Pretty Reckless singer, Taylor Momsen, still feels the need to explain herself to her doubters. In a recent interview, the former actress reiterated that quitting the TV show Gossip Girl, a decade ago, was her best decision ever; music has always been her real passion, she said, and now it's become her saviour.  

Momsen's recent emotional struggles are laid bare on Death By Rock And Roll. The album's tracks are shot through with tragedy and grief. Two deaths, in particular, underpin the LP: Firstly, the suicide of friend-of-the-band Chris Cornell. More devastating still was the passing of the band's former producer Kato Khandwala, whose motorcycle accident forms the subject of the exhilarating and defiant title track.

In a way, the whole album feels like a tribute to Khandwala. It's not just the lyrics ("Harley Darling" is another eulogy), but also how the band stays true to their old producer's recipe of classic metal mixed with grunge, with a dollop of country-rock on top.

This eclectic mix of styles may not always make for the most coherent listen, but there sure are some rip-roaring tracks: "25" is a soaring power ballad that consciously evokes Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name". "Got So High", another slow number, has a softer, acid-laced, country chill-out feel. At the opposite end of the spectrum, "And So it Went" (feat. Tom Morello), is dark, thick, sludgy, and very loud. 

Even the album's fillers are not entirely devoid of charm. Momsen injects some bad girl charisma into the meat-and-spuds metal of "My Bones". And the nondescript, Southern rock twang of "Turning Gold," is (partially) redeemed by the grit and power of her voice.

Of course, The Pretty Reckless like to say they're a band and not just a vehicle for their singer. Really though it's Momsen's persona that dominates. The other three may be fine instrumentalists, but there's nothing strikingly original about the band's music. It's Momsen's attitude, vocals and image that provide the X factor and on Death By Rock And Roll she's as bewitching as ever. 

@russcoffey 

Overleaf: The Pretty Reckless's video for "And So it Went"

Album: slowthai - TYRON

★★★ SLOWTHAI - TYRON Midlands MC musters juicy moments on hit'n'miss second album

Midlands MC musters juicy moments on hit'n'miss second album

Slowthai’s debut Nothing Great About Britain was both strikingly intimate and anarchic. He rapped about his childhood and British inequality over grime beats that sounded as if they were falling apart around him. Here "abrasive" and "insightful" coexisted within the same songs effortlessly.

On TYRON, slowthai divides these two attributes, splitting the album into a raucous first half and a sombre second. The caps lock is used to hammer home this overarching theme of dualism.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Allen Ginsberg - At Reed College: The First Recorded Reading of Howl & Other Poems

ALLEN GINSBERG - AT REED COLLEGE First-ever release of a remarkable personal appearance from February 1956

The important, first-ever release of a remarkable personal appearance from February 1956

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix.” The opening words of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl are ingrained.

Album: The Staves - Good Woman

★★★ THE STAVES - GOOD WOMAN The Staveley-Taylors kick over the traces

The Staveley-Taylors kick over the traces

The Staves – Emily, Jessica, and Camilla Staveley-Taylor – have routinely been described as “an indie folk act”, and while the term folk has undergone a lot of stretching over the years the band’s first two albums – Dead & Born & Grown and If I Was – could broadly be said to fit, their latest, Good Woman, requires redefinition.

Album: John Carpenter - Lost Themes III: Alive After Death

★★★ JOHN CARPENTER - LOST THEMES III: ALIVE AFTER DEATH Film director releases his first solo album in five years

The film director and soundtrack composer releases his first solo album in five years

John Carpenter may be more celebrated as the director of such great cinematic landmarks as Escape From New York, Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween, but he is also well-deserving of his plaudits as one of the founding fathers of modern electronic music.

Album: Elephant9 - Arrival Of The New Elders

★★★ ELEPHANT9 - ARRIVAL OF THE NEW ELDERS Norway’s jazz-prog luminaries

Norway’s jazz-prog luminaries take their feet off the accelerator pedal

Arrival Of The New Elders is unlike anything Norwegian trio Elephant9 have done before. Previously, their jazz-prog mélange was as full-on as it could be. Attacking, hard and heavy. Now, a previously unfamiliar pensiveness has been revealed.

Reissue CDs Weekly: The Free Design - Butterflies Are Free

THE FREE DESIGN - BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE 4-disc retrospective of esoteric harmony poppers

Wallet-friendly entry point into the esoteric harmony poppers

“Dorian Benediction” begins with a muted organ and spectral chorale. Minimal drums, an electric piano, vibes, melancholy saxophone and a jazzy solo guitar fill out the picture. Over its four-and-a-half minutes, the atmosphere is haunted and haunting. This is music which appears to have seeped from the walls of a baroque church. It’s the final track of The Free Design’s third album, 1969’s Heaven / Earth.

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