Image by Natasha Ryan
Reckless Abandon
Be Your Own Pet delivers low blows on the Lower East Side
By Sara Graham
Published: February 22nd, 2008 | 2:10pm
February 20, 2008, in New York — The boozy and brawling spirit that fuels punk rock was alive and well at the intimate Mercury Lounge in downtown Manhattan. Nashville’s Be Your Own Pet played an 8 p.m. sold-out show to promote its sophomore effort, Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace/Universal). And awkward is exactly what BYOP got about midway through a loud, rambunctious set.
With a spazzy sound that draws on institutions like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, it seems these folks (who are barely beyond their teen years) aren’t just pissed, they’re also well versed in the classics. Frontwoman, Jemina Pearl’s warbled shout is akin to Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex and her twitchy, shoulder-shimmy assault is the stuff stars are made of. She was a blur of blonde hair and black jeans, flanked by bassist Nathan Vasquez and guitarist Jonas Stein, who jumped and swung their guitars with awesome reckless abandon. Their intrinsic fresh-faced approach only helped propel their double-time energy, childish songs about crushes and food fights and a “who cares” attitude.
For all the flack the members of BYOP get about their ages, they are accomplished musicians whose 2006 self-titled debut on Umvd Labels, garnered major attention that praised the band’s garage-rock rant. It seems though, that studio time has left them rusty with this show as the first of a month-long tour of U.S. dates. They had mini pow-wows before several songs to agree on the set list, and when Stein announced he was tired, it seemed their energy was waning and attention span dwindling.
The show’s happy-go-punky mood took a quick detour into downright weird when Pearl asked an audience member onstage. An older gentlemen hopped up and only uttered “I love your music” into Pearl’s microphone before she slapped him in the face. Like, hard. Confusion then followed along with a brief scuffle, which ended with the show-goer getting knocked into the drums (bumping one drum clear off the set) and then ushered off stage by the band. He hovered close to the stage during the rest of the set, occasionally flipping the bird to Pearl. There’s a word for this: awkward.
She explained to an unsure audience that he had tried to kiss her and went on with the set, surprisingly unruffled. Nonviolent highlights from the set included new tracks “Becky,” the slowest and sweetest jam of the night, and “Blow Yr Mind,” an impossibly fast mosh-worthy track, which had everyone freaking out along with ringleader Pearl.
It’s highly likely that I’m not punk enough to appreciate a band assaulting an audience member (I’m also not a 17-year-old in a VFW hall), and it’s possible he deserved it — but it was a bummer because I was hoping to circumvent the fact that their mean age still requires a fake I.D. Even Pearl acknowledged the fact they can’t ignore by noting the early show time allowed for their “bedtimes.” But her opening statement that this was a “sober” show for them (what, as opposed to all the drunken shows they’ve done?), and references to her getting kicked out of Nashville bars for rowdiness had me rolling my eyes. All in all, the tunes are good, the energy was high, and earnestness was stellar, but here’s to hoping the playground fights wane as they grow out of their “awkward” stage.
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