“Be Your Own Pet,” the debut from the Nashville four-piece of the same name is a soundtrack of suburban teenage boredom – goofy, high on sugar, and precocious (“Oh my gawd, she said she’s here to steal my virginity!”). The first release on Thurston Moore’s (of Sonic Youth) Universal-imprint, Ecstatic Peace, “BYOP” is a mix of punk and garage music played by kids, and proves fiery but unsurprising. It’s a surprising debut for Moore’s label, considering his admirably long-held devotion to the avant-garde and experimental music scenes. Moore has been candid, saying that he wanted to release music that had a chance to be popular. Okay, fair enough, but shouldn’t it also be good?
Much of the rapt attention paid to BYOP centers on front-woman Jemina Pearl, the pretty, bombastic, blonde vocalist, which is not surprising though perhaps a bit creepy considering she was underage until recently. Pearl plays up the PJ Harvey-via-Karen O. man-eater persona, defiantly claiming she’ll drown her boy in the bog because they got into a fight. Your affinity to BYOP will likely rely on your opinion of Pearl, and the persona she’s portraying – as she actually does very little singing on “BYOP.” Proponents will christen her a sassy, charismatic independent female presence. However, I found her annoying in a tiresome and put-on way. For the majority of “BYOP” Pearl swings between commanding shout-talk vocals and Karen O-esque ironically perky cheerleader squeals. Pearl’s best performance (and the best song on “BYOP”) is the more poppy “Adventure.” “Wildcat!” also shows an off-kilter bounce and swagger. So much of the rest of “BYOP” feels like the band is trying to compensate for their youth and inexperience by making the playing faster and the vocals more screamo. And while it’s not surprising that the lyrical content reads like loose-leaf notes passed in high school study hall, the lyrics are often cringe-worthy silly.
Those who enjoy “BYOP” will call it fun and inevitably claim that those who don’t like are taking music too seriously. The band would agree with a terrible song called “Fuuuuuun.” (Yes, there are actually six “U”s in the title). I have nothing against “fun,” but this seems like the type of teenage emoticon/IM overstatement where emphasis makes up for not having something pertinent to say. I give BYOP credit for having more in common with Seventies punk than with the Good Charlotte-mall punk of the last decade. They could still become a good band. For now, “BYOP” is an okay album, alternating between tedious attitude show-offs and energetic fun, with unfortunately a bit more of the former. Sorry, kids, if you want to add five extra “U”s, you’d better be able to back it up. |