Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward











Be Your Own Pet, still a four-piece punk band from Nashville, Tennessee seem to have retained their own refreshing sound even though Jemina Pearl can sound like Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's on occasion. They may stick to their punk roots by having the CD top out at the half hour mark but they don't always stick to the cliché punk sound. They do have the standard punk anthems such as 'The Beast Within' and 'Blummer Time' but they also change it up and have surprisingly melodic tracks like 'Becky' and, my personal favorite track, 'The Kelly Affair' which describes how 'It could be dangerous / It could be dangerous / It could be dangerous / living in this valley!'. The song is supposedly based on the movie 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls'. All I know is that it made me want to grab a surf board, a bikini girl and some illicit drugs and head off to the beach, which may or may not be a good thing.

Be Your Own Pet remind me of being back in high school in several ways. First the lyrics are about anything from cult movies to love and hate relationships. Second they sound like that one band you listened to in high school that no one else had heard and you were so proud you introduced them to your circle of friends. Be Your Own Pet is that band! With lyrics like 'You're such a tease, you're such a jerk, why do I waste my time? / I'll make you take back all the things that you said!', from the track 'Twisted Nerve', how can one not be transported back to the days of he said she said politics of high school.

If Be Your Own Pet sound this good on the CD you can be assured that I will be one of the first in line to see Jemina belt out the jams when they come to town later this year. Punk rock has never sounded so (pop) sweet.

7 out of 10


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