I sometimes feel like i'm wasting my life away because i've never had the thrill of being in a band. Not many groups make me check for grey hairs to be honest. Not these days when energy, colour, raucousness & pure adrenalin are more often found on kids TV than on the sweaty stages of venues around the globe. A musical equivalent of those shows where people dressed as the banana splits throw themselves into lakes on an imitation galleon is usually pretty hard to source in a world where The Feeling & Editors rule the airwaves. Thank fuck for the bubblegum punk whirlwind that is Be Your Own Pet!! A girl fronted crew who are the audio version of a food fight at a day-glo ice rink, fizzing hardcore punka pop rawk that blends the full throttle assault of The Stooges & Melt Banana with spots of early Blondie (circa 'Detroit 442') , and the primal rasp of Patti Smith & Joan Jett. Anyone that likes their music infused with a celebration of young life, sporting titles such as 'Zombie Graveyard party!' & 'Blow Yr Mind' is gonna lap up this snaking tornado of exuberence that is sophomore album 'Get Awkward'. Just when one song stalls after a couple of minutes you get another hyper burst of maxed to 11 buzzsaw joy. It's probably a bit dumb if you're contemplating a new Band of Horses album or whatever but these true practitioners of the Sonic Youth manifesto are a pleasure to behold & this second long player finds them in fine fettle! LP/CD on XL
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What their label says...
Get Awkward’ is the sophomore full-length from Nashville foursome Be Your Own Pet. Making ‘Get Awkward’ presented new challenges for Be Your Own Pet’s Jonas, Jemina, Nathan, and John, and yielded some surprises. The songs remain fast and loud, totally wired and tantalizingly brief. Applying the dubious word ‘mature’ is open for heated debate – string arrangements and soppy ballads are blessedly absent – but the music definitely reflects a sharp increase in experience. Working once again with producer and Redd Kross veteran Steve McDonald, the quartet savoured the recording experience more on the second pass; overdubs and screaming matches were in shorter supply. As for the title – “We called it ‘Get Awkward’ for a reason,” concludes Nathan. “There has been some definite awkwardness in learning what being in a band is about”. Graduating from basement parties to touring with Arctic Monkeys, or dividing press time between homemade fanzines, Rolling Stone, and a million blogs. Where the music is concerned, though, any growing pains have only served Be Your Own Pet well. This UK edition of the album contains four exclusive tracks compared to the US version.
