Albums of the Week: The Bad, The Good – The Pretty Reckless Vs. Foo Fighters

We’ve got the highlights of releases this week, and its all about the worst and best of rock music that’s just dropped (also we’ve thrown Jessie J. into the mix, its good to have a little diversity in the list). Check out what music reviews are saying about Little J from Gossip Girl, Thursday’s much anticipated album, and of course, Foo Fighter’s newest release:

The Bad

The Pretty Reckless, Light Me Up

You might know Taylor Momsen as Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl, but it’s time you were introduced to her dark(er) rock and roll side as she releases the sophomore album with her band, The Pretty Reckless. Ironically, what the reviews have been saying aren’t pretty at all:

• Entertainment Weekly: “Taylor Momsen’s evolution from GoldilockedGossip Girl star to snarling, sooty-eyed hell-kitten has been mildly unsettling, considering she’s not yet 18. In fact, her birth year (1993, if that doesn’t make you feel Paleolithic) seems to be the wellspring for her band the Pretty Reckless: Light Me Up is clearly built from the doll parts of that era’s grunge goddesses — a sometimes too-slick conceit that Momsen’s thousand-Marlboro growl” — Leah Greenblatt
• Review Rinse Repeat: “It is always easiest to begin with the bad news, so let’s discuss lyrics. The phrase “light me up when I’m down” is not only the indication of a serious problem, but it is probably the cheesiest way of asking for a smoke. The rest of The Pretty Reckless’ lyrics follow the same pattern: very cliché and with a very immature mindset for the mature topics discussed. Also, the lyrics simply do not make sense.” — Danielle Diab

Light Me Up is available on Amazon for $19.86

Jessie J, Who You Are

Jessie J. has been compared so some of the industry’s greatest pop stars – Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and Ke$ha among others – but the english pop star is, in truth, reviewed as a watered down muddle of all of the above. Her sophomore album, Who You Are, is just the proof needed to prove this statement true:

• Pitchfork: “[Rebecca Black's] ”Friday” took off because people were calling it the worst song ever and mocking its dopey lyrics and awkward approximation of standard modern pop tropes. The biggest difference between Black’s song and the contents of Who You Are is that while Jessie J gets the expected formula of pop “right,” the hapless Black gets it “wrong.” But in that “wrongness” lies a humanity that J cannot approach.” — Matthew Perpetua
• NME: “Weirdest of all, though, is that no matter how much Jessie J sings about being herself, we don’t really ever get a sense of who, or what, that is. Even on personal tracks like , everything’s a bit vague. “When I’m nervous, I have this thing where I talk too much”, she warbles. ‘Who’s Laughing Now’ offers a little insight, but it’s via her grind and career rather than who Jessie actually is.” – Ailbhe Malone

Who You Are is available on Amazon for $7.99

The Good

Thursday, No Devolucion

Thursday is a band that has survived the cliche typecasting of “emo” and dead-end branding of the warped tour phase, and they’ve pulled some of the highest praises for their new release No Devolucion. Almost an entire decade since the Jersey based band has been recording and writing emo-punk power tracks, they’re still staying afloat and relevant:

• Spin: “Again working with Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann, they graft 4AD atmospherics (“A Darker Forest”), frosty power-pop hooks (“Magnets Caught in a Metal Heart”), and Mogwai pedal-effects crescendos (“Stay True”) onto their post-hardcore template, which now churns even more fiercely with an expanded palette.” — Michael Tedder
• Sputnik Music: “Intertwined with what is easily his best recorded performance is the fantastic instrumental work. No Devolucion makes use of a wide palette of sounds and samples keeping the album from falling into the somewhat repetitive nature of their last several releases. The end result is Thursday’s most mature-sounding, taut work yet.” — Hep Kat

No Devolucion is available on Amazon for $13.79

TV On The Radio, Nine Types of Light

Even if you cant quite fit TV On The Radio into one specific genre (nor would you want to), you can be sure to fit their latest release, Nine Types of Light into your music collection. That is, if post-punk, jazz, soul, or even electro is your jam. Either way, there’s no point missing out on one of the week’s highest reviewed album:

• Spin: “But mostly Nine Types of Light feels like the liquefying of a band, ten years and four albums deep, into the soft tenderness of pre-middle-age satisfaction. Like, maybe family life sounds pretty good right about now — and it fits them well. Interpreting the album’s title is a dicey proposition, but taken literally, it’s revealing: TV on the Radio have shifted constantly, from the humble visible form of light that brightens the world in their earliest days to the violent gamma explosions of Return to Cookie Mountain, straight to the cosmic light of the sky — a destination not unfamiliar to this band during Dear Science. And here, they return to the earth’s surface, intact, with their eyes open to what’s right in front of their faces.” — Sean Fennessey
• WBEZ: “Though this absolutely is a band in which every member’s contribution is key—even when the rhythm section is laying back, with drummer Jaleel Bunton and bassist Gerard Smith making like the beat boys in Radiohead on its latest, “The King of Limbs”—it is Adebimpe who shines the brightest, with one of the most distinctive and expressive voices anywhere on the current music scene… If a better, more vulnerable boudoir soundtrack has been made this year, I haven’t heard it.” — Jim DeRogatis

Nine Types of Light is available on Amazon for $11.99

The Great

Foo Fighters, Wasted Light

Foo Fighters doesn’t need an introduction. Nor do they need a long explanation why Wasted Light has made album of the week… it’s as much to say that this latest album has been highly anticipated for months before the release, even of the first single. Finally, we can breathe out after that pesky two year hiatus and jump back in:

• CNN: “Here’s the miracle, though: Foo Fighters never feel like a backward-looking band. Light is a muscular rock & roll throwdown, featuring the Foos delivering exactly the kind of catchy, pummeling anthems they’re known for, with total disregard for the whims of the masses.” – Amanda Petrusich
• Consequence of Sound: “When it comes to the sound of Wasting Light, even with the return of Pat Smear, not too much has changed. Foo Fighters are still the same band making the same kind of rock. What they have done, however, is taken the heaviest and hookiest material from the past decade and condensed it into one album. Wasting Light has cornered the kind of ideas that make up the best of the band’s catalog in an earnest attempt to go as big as possible, while staying relatively grounded.” — E.N. Mays

Wasted Light is available on Amazon for $9.99