Source: Promo Image
It’s been eight years since Be Your Own Pet disbanded and the music industry is still yet to see a good enough replacement. It’s surely about time they got back together… please?
For those not familiar with BYOP, the quartet originated from Tennessee and made the best garage, noise-punk that’s been released over the past decade. Formed in 2004, the band quickly signed a record deal with XL Recordings in 2005 and later signed to Sonic Youth‘s own Thurston Moore’s label, Ecstatic Peace which saw the release of their debut self-titled record. Fuelled by punk, pop and teenage rebellion, Be Your Own Pet found themselves receiving high critical acclaim from all over and were soon thrust into the spotlight as a band that would inspire a new wave of female fronted rock bands, thanks to front-woman Jemina Pearl.
Pearl is one of the highlights of Be Your Own Pet – her no-bullshit lyrics and gutsy vocals made the band unique whilst their noise-punk gave them a leg to stand on. One of their most poignant tracks, ‘Becky’, takes on the struggles of High School bitchy-ness, immediately forging a connection with any adolescent, and the thumping drums and sly, cheerful guitars that come into swing as Pearl sings “that doesn’t matter anyway, I’ll find a brand new friend okay, me and her we’ll kick your ass, we’ll wait with knives after class” just goes to show how little BYOP held back. If that wasn’t enough, their track ‘Zombie Graveyard Party’ has a chorus consisting purely of the phrase “life is lame so let me eat your brain”: weird, but great.
Whether it was through their nonsensical lyrics or intoxicating hooks, Be Your Own Pet injected every ounce of fun they could into their music. For reasons unbeknown to the world, the band called it a day way back in 2008 after a final tour of the UK and have left a gap that’s still yet to be filled.
