Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
Rating
RIYL
Black FlagX
Vampire Weekend
The Carrie Nations
Tracklist
1. Super Soaked2. The Kelly Affair
3. Twisted Nerve
4. Heart Throb
5. Bitches Leave
6. Bummer Time
7. You’re a Waste
8. Food Fight!
9. Zombie Graveyard Party!
10. What’s Your Damage?
11. Creepy Crawl
12. The Beast Within
Users RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
Your RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
Be Your Own Pet take campto a whole new level on their sophomore album Get Awkward. Their opening single, based off the film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, has Jemina Pearl turning the plot into lyrics, exclaiming, “It could be dangerous / living in this valley.” Instead of coming off as contrived, Pearl and the band turn the track into something bordering brilliance. Sure, they use the film as a basis, but turn it into a brilliant description of rock and roll: “Everybody here parties all the time / everybody here has sex on their minds / everybody here is popping pills,” which is a vision they fully embrace throughout the course of the album. It’s this fusion of camp and punk rhythms, channeling both current culture and music history, creating a sound that distinguishes the band from the dregs of indie-punk bands that makes Get Awkward one of the best albums of the early year.
Their debut was a jagged pill to swallow, forgoing any sort of polish, Pearl’s voice often getting lost in the wall of sound, yet at the same time it was triumphant, signaling a return of the propulsive and chaotic rhythms of Black Flag and The Stooges in the form of a new generation band. On Get Awkward, the band retains the same spirit, but cleans up the music a little bit. The most obvious change is the emphasis on hooks, making the songs sound less like ninety second punk rock sprints. Pearl’s voice is in greater command of her lyrics, wrapping them nicely around Jonas Stein’s furious guitar work.
Songs like “Heart Throb” show the band’s new found pop sensibility with Pearl sounding less like the demon-goddess she played on their debut, having her sing something that’s odd for BYOP -- a conventional love song. But the song never feels out of character, Pearl delivering lines like, “The sun is getting brighter but I’m still cold / My doctor said to tell me how you feel,” with a enough sarcasm to pull it off. The band is careful never to take itself too seriously, writing songs about being young, removing self-pity and contemplation, remembering that songs about youth are supposed to be fast, reckless, offensive, and completely off-the-wall.
This ability comes through in the music as well. It sounds messy, chaotic, bizarre, and most of all youthful. Be Your Own Pet accomplish what so many other bands try to do, and they pull it off almost effortlessly -- they write songs that sum up the quintessence of being young. Be Your Own Pet deliver them with such flair and poise, it’s impossible to mistake them for anything but genuine. Get Awkward stands as a testament that punk rock can still be done without any sort of pretensions of politics attached to it. Quite simply, this is the best punk rock record to come out this year.
--Matt McGraw
Comments
Infinitely Inwards
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
ERRA - Impulse
Aborted - Global Flatline
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
SL, UT
Trollin' with my homies.
Markham, ON
P.S. This is what the alphabet would look like if you removed Q and R.
Los Angeles
postrockpaperscissors
Norman OK
This record kinda blows. I loved their first album, but this one was a huge disappointment.
SL, UT
Trollin' with my homies.