Be Your Own Pet, who burst onto the indie scene with 2006's critically-acclaimed self-titled release, triumphantly return with its sophomore effort "Get Awkward." The record is a glorious, feedback-filled ode to being young.
Be Your Own has have everything going for it that an indie band needs: an ambiguous, half-sentence group name; superstar support from Sonic Youth leader Thurston Moore and release on his ultra-hip label Ecstatic Peace! label.
Lead singer Jemina Pearl has the sex appeal to make the tight-pants indie boys weak in the knees, but the strength and viciousness to give her songs real drive and punk credibility. She makes listeners wish it was them who had just broken her heart, but her ferociousness on tracks like "Twisted Nerve" makes them think twice about crossing her.
The record is written in the sprit of those are young and revel in the glories of being young. Every chorus is a rallying anthem for devil-may-care teenagers, and Pearl's lyrics are the sort of lines you get tattooed on your arm to piss off your mom.
On "The Kelly Affair," she screams, "Everybody here parties all the time! Everybody here's got sex on their minds! Everybody here is popping pills!" She writes about what she knows and that is immature guys, food fights, beer runs and rock n' roll itself.
At times, the subject matter boarders on the juvenile and naive, but keep in mind that all of the band members are under 20.
Musically, Be Your Own Pet draws from the best of punk and garage rock. It takes notes from its idols, channeling Black Flag's "TV Party" on trashy, uproarious sing-alongs like "Bummer Time" and "Food Fight" and the riot grrrl energy of bands like X-Ray Spex and The Slits.
"Bitches Leave" is Pearl's message to scene girls everywhere. "Do you think anyone wants you to stay? How'd you get back here anyway?" she asks.
The U.K. version of the album boasts unreleased bonus tracks that were viewed as too subversive for the U.S. One of these is "Becky." Reminiscent of the dark, junk culture of The Cramps and The Horrors, it's the hilariously macabre tale of a scorned girl who murders her former best friend who had gossiped all her secrets to the rest of the school.
Be Your Own Pet is a fresh new talent in a sea of middle aged indie bands taking themselves way to seriously. "Get Awkward" is a fantastically fun record made by four teenage friends from Tennessee.
At this point the band isn't concerned with careers or industry standards -- they're simply looking for the next party. But if these two albums are any indication of what we can expect from Be Your Own Pet, they won't have any difficulties making a career.