"Gossip Girl" Taylor Momsen Debuts Band, The Pretty Reckless

Gossip Girl's Taylor Momsen and her band, the Pretty Reckless, made their live debut at New York club the Annex last night, reports Guest of a Guest. Channeling her inner Courtney Love, 15-year-old Momsen (who was luckily not carded, evidently) belted out the band's tunes in a raspy growl while strutting around in a beige slip and lace-up black boots.

Momsen's Gossip Girl alter-ego would approve: Jenny Humphrey (Momsen's character on the CW show) is an aspiring fashion designer whose DIY styling, raccoon eyeliner and punky hairdo make her a rebellious standout at her prim and proper Upper East Side private school. In true punk spirit, Little J even went so far as to stage a renegade fashion show earlier this season, appropriately soundtracked by Sonic Youth's "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" (check out the scene and more of Gossip Girl music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas' favorite soundtrack moments). Humphrey's father, Rufus, was also the frontman of fictional one-hit-wonders Lincoln Hawk, who were named on Gossip Girl as one of Rolling Stone's Top 10 Forgotten Bands of the '90s.

The Pretty Reckless are signed to Interscope Records and the band's debut — on which Momsen shares co-writing credits — is due this fall, confirms a press release. As Rock Daily reported, the band will open for Australian sister duo the Veronicas at U.S. gigs this Spring/Summer.

Momsen isn't the only Gossip Girl star with a burgeoning music career. Fellow cast member Leighton Meester (queen bee Blair Waldorf) has plans to release her debut album this fall after Meester inked a deal with Universal Republic last month, and she will appear on the first single from Cobra Starship's forthcoming record, while Ed Westwick (the alternately smarmy and charming Chuck Bass) fronts Brit-pop act the Filthy Youth.

For more on the cast of Gossip Girl, including photos of their steamy Rolling Stone photo shoot and juicy stories from the set, check out our Gossip Girl hub.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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