Hear The Pretty Reckless’ tribute to Soundgarden

(Image credit: Century Media)

When The Pretty Reckless were selected to support Soundgarden on the Seattle band’s spring 2017 tour of the US, it was a dream come true for their vocalist Taylor Momsen, who counts the grunge legends among her favourite bands ever. Sadly, that tour would be halted in the most tragic circumstances, when, following a show at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell was found dead in this hotel room in the early hours of May 18, 2017.

In recognition of the singer’s impact on her life, Taylor Momsen’s band taped a cover of Loud Love, from Soundgarden’s 1989 album Louder Than Love, in September for Octane's Home Invasion Festival, a four-day virtual festival on SiriusXM's Octane channel. That cover is now available to stream.

As reported by Blabbermouth, in July, Momsen spoke to Offstage With DWP about the influence of Cornell’s band on her own career.

"I've based my whole career and identity off of The Beatles and Soundgarden,” she said. “They're two bands that I put next to each other, and I know that might sound crazy to some people. But they're so important. There's very few bands, I think, that needed to exist, and Soundgarden is one of those bands that there'd be a hole in the music world without their records."

Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and drummer Matt Cameron return the love by guesting on a track titled Only Love Can Save Me Now on The Pretty Reckless’ upcoming album, Death By Rock And Roll, which is due for release in early 2021. The song was recorded at Seattle's London Bridge Studios, where Soundgarden recorded Louder Than Love with producer Terry Date.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.