Be Your Own Pet

Early on in their career, the Tennessee-bred Be Your Own Pet have already drawn favorable comparisons to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, not only because of the commanding presence of lead singer Jemina Pearl Abegg, but the piercing guitar of Jonas Stein and now a sophomore album that pulses and drips with teenage urgency and energy.

The band named their new release Get Awkward, a somewhat misleading title due to the immensely confident swagger of the album. Get Awkward proves to be a huge improvement over their self-titled debut, as the band shows a staggering growth in their songwriting and maturity, without pulling out any "Maps"-like ballads to prove they've grown up. BYOP rip through Get Awkward, sounding like a hyperactive Karen O backed by an angrier, drug-fueled Strokes. "Super Soaked," a typical rebellion song-turned-anthem, tears a classic riff right out of the hands of Albert Hammond Jr., which is followed by "The Kelly Affair," a perfect account of a band coming to terms with the music industry. As the album goes on, they prove to be just as menacing when singing about silly topics as they are about serious ones;"Food Fight" and "Zombie Graveyard Party!" both sound vital when played with their intensity.

Be Your Own Pet might be a bunch of kids from the South, but they sound like three decades of New York shoved into one loud firecracker with one short fuse.

—Nathan Atnikov
03.13.08

It only took Be Your Own Pet a year and a half to follow up their debut album with Get Awkward, but during that time the band grew from teenagers to adults, and it shows in their music. Get Awkward is still plenty mischievous, but the mischief is more honed, with a wicked mean streak to boot. Instead of singing about bicycles, vacations, and adventures, Jemina Pearl and crew tackle subjects like boredom and paranoia on "Creepy Crawl" and self-loathing on "The Beast Within," but they sound pretty excited to be so jaded. The hyperactive venom of Be Your Own Pet's "Let's Get Sandy (Big Problem)" gets more focus on "Bitches Leave," a snotty, snarly punk rant which sounds a little like the Donnas on an especially pissed-off day. Fortunately, though, Get Awkward isn't too mature for its own good: "Heart Throb" captures the jubilant, stomach-aching power of a crush, as Pearl makes eyes at a guy she likes while her boyfriend is right beside her; "What's Your Damage" nails that obsessive state where love, hate, and pain are all the same thing. The band's vivid way with storytelling takes on a filmic flair with "The Kelly Affair," a clever update of Valley of the Dolls' go-go, pill-popping melodrama, and "Zombie Graveyard Party," where Pearl yells "Party in the graveyard tonight!" with all the gusto of a B-movie scream queen. Get Awkward's more structured songs shine the spotlight even more brightly on Pearl's vocal antics and lyrics, to the point that the other bandmembers feel like her henchmen as she rails against weak boys and jealous girls on "You're a Waste." Thrashy, repetitive tracks like "Twisted Nerve" and "Bummer Time" leave her and the rest of the band flailing without making much of an impact, and nothing has the weird, wild sweetness of Be Your Own Pet's "Adventure" or "Wildcat!" Still, the best songs have enough energy and creativity to keep the album from being an Awkward sophomore slump. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide