Be Your Own PET “Be Your Own PET” Review
The result of a Nashville art school experiment, Be Your Own PET are a group of adolescent rock stars who have come together to battle the common bland underdeveloped rock as a pompous, edgy, frantic throwback to punk’s heyday. The group has experienced a number of key spots on Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds, SXSW and most recently at this year’s Bonnaroo festival which has lead to an overabundance of both pressure and press. What has accompanied the band’s eponymous debut has been a general realization that there is merit to much of band’s over-hyped publicity along with many underdeveloped criticisms of the band.
“Let’s Get Sandy” bears the lyrics “We all have holes in our socks and Bad Brains totally rocks” which comes to represent a number of things within the album. There is a genuineness that is associated with the pubescent lyrics and smashing music that accompanies the album’s themes. Along with the, at times, thoughtless lyrics comes a bounty of criticism calling for a review of what exactly it is that makes this band stand out from its rock n” roll peers. Compared to a number of more experienced bands that offer a deeper, influential sound within the punk realm, Be Your Own PET comes off as uninformed and shallow at times. Where does the band’s bloated sense of entitlement come from then? Along with the overabundant hype, being one of the few bands that Thurston Moore has signed can’t hurt.
No bones about it Be Your Own PET offers a variety of animated tracks which would rightly warrant the band its punk comparisons. There is, however, a second face that the band takes, which is overly apparent on the luscious “Adventure,” the album’s most satisfying track. It’s this duality of sorts that allows a depth to be considered when looking at this young band, this band which has had a tremendous amount of pressure associated with its music, stage show and image. Then it clicks, in certain sects, punk was bloated and arrogant, punk swept through without holding anything back and claimed everything for self without a shred of cause for entitlement.
It’s with this seemingly effortless display of punk rock regurgitation that the band builds its overwhelming sense of bodacious charisma. It is that charisma that sparks a true separation between Be Your Own PET and other like-sounding groups. Maybe the band is simply a throwback to a sound that had already peaked and faded away before any of its members had been born. Maybe Be Your Own PET is just a group filled with spoiled thieving brats undeserving of the reputation and merit associated with its music. When putting things in perspective however, Be Your Own PET is an amazing accomplishment for a group compiled of musicians barely old enough to be the typical age of high school graduates. Actually, Be Your Own PET is a remarkable musical accomplishment had the band been compiled by musicians twice its members’ age. What were you doing when you were 17 or 18?
