The Pretty Reckless

The Pretty Reckless are made up of Taylor Momsen, Ben Phillps, Mark Damon and Jamie Perkins and are an American Rock band from New York. They released their debut album Light Me Up on August 30 2010. The band have gained reasonable success with their single Make Me Wanna Die which topped the UK Rock charts shortly after it was released. The band recently concluded a worldwide tour which finished in March of this year in support of their album. The band have also released several EP's and plan on releasing a second album in the near future.

The band are represented as being an conventional Rock band however the band is fronted by a female which is not so common within Rock. The band often express themes of rebellion and destructive behaviour through their choices in costume, lyrics performance and lifestyle. The band have been described as "entertaining" as well as "Rock n Roll". The overall image of the band is an alternative American Rock band.

The image that The Pretty Reckless portrays is clear in the sense that they as previously mentioned they are seen as conventional rock band rebelling against rules and conformity. This can be seen in their choices of clothing especially that of Taylor Momsen the lead singer. Taylor is often seen wearing scruffy and rather revealing clothing that would not necessarily be accepted in normal day to day life. This is also reflected in her choices of clothing during live performances, most notably when she lifted her top up at the Reading Festival in 2009 revealing to crosses across her nipples. The band as whole after often seen together and wearing similar clothing that is conventional within the Rock genre such as dark jeans and black t-shirts. Most band members also sport a long messy hairstyle which was extremely popular within rock during 60's, 70's and 80's.

In The Pretty Reckless music videos they are seen as rebelling towards the norm. This is most obvious with the fact that the bands front star is a women and this is not necessarily something that is found within the Rock genre, however she conducts herself in such a way that makes her appealing to Rock audience. There is reverse of sex appeal also as a result of this as male Rock fans will be attracted her where as female audience members may be attracted to the rest of the band. There videos display performance which relates to their live performance and concerts. They also display behaviour that is  not necessarily accepted by the majority of people such as drug abuse and swearing. Having said this their videos still attract a large number of views and positive feedback.

In the media The Pretty Reckless are again seen as being rebellious, however, they are well respected as musicians within both the media and the music industry. Taylor Momsen the lead singer has over 650,000 followers on Twitter which is evidence that despite some of the her antics they have a loyal fan base. This is also good and effective way of the band communicating and relating to Taylor and the rest of the band as she is able to update them with what the band are up to and any new material they produce. When searching "the pretty reckless" into Google it returns 6,169,000 results in 0.23 seconds this shows how big The Pretty Reckless have become with evidence such as this proving they are certainly a big online name. One of the top results is the bands website and is also a great way of keeping fans up to date. They also have a Facebook page which they can use to promote new work and communicate with their fans and audiences. The band are regarded as very talented.

In live performances and concert sets the band are seen as "lively and "energetic" and that they are good at putting on a real show with the use of explosive lighting. They are very passionate when performing and it is often clear they are enjoying what they do. They provide a stereotypical image Mise en Scene within Rock often seen wearing dark clothing that often matches with one another such as all wearing black jeans however Taylor is often seen wearing short skirts or other items of clothing that both represent Rock but are also rather revealing.  

Reasons behind choices in camera, editing, costume and props within The Pretty Reckless's video My Medicine are made in my opinion to reflect the bands lifestyle and personality. There are strong references throughout the video to rebellious or even illegal behaviour whether it be the taking of illegal substances of the shot of the women opening the door topless at the begging of the video. This sort of lifestyle of drinking, performing, the taking of drugs and having sex is common within the genre of Rock and is clearly being portrayed in this video. There are of a variety of camera shots during the video from different angles focusing on the behaviour of Taylor throughout the video and the performance of the band, some of the shots have been edited to give a disorientated or intoxicated effect. There are fast cuts also that keep in time with the video being edited mostly on the beat. There video is mostly narrative based but switches between performance also. It obvious that Taylor is the main focus of the video and this is represented both through the camera shots but also the Mise en Scene. At the start of the video she is seen wearing a dark leather jacket, but as the music begins she takes of the jacket to reveal a colour looking dress which stands out from the rest of the people within the video and enforces her as the main focus of the video. Most of the other people within the video are seen wearing stereotypical Rock clothing which the bands audience will be able to relate to. The overall impression of the video is that  the band are truly living the Rock lifestyle. 

In conclusion the band are represented as being an old school Rock band that are living the true Rock lifestyle through their choices of costume, live performance, music videos and the way the present themselves mainly within the video. They have a mostly good reputation among the press and have gained respect within the music industry after becoming growingly successful over the past two years. They have a loyal fan base as they can easily relate to them which is important for the band as they look to grow even bigger over the next 12 months.