Be Your Own Pet Get Awkward CD

On sophomore outing GET AWKWARD, Nashville's straight-out-of-high-school quartet, Be Your Own Pet, attempts the difficult trick of maturing and, at the same time, rekindling the excitement that followed the band's much-hyped arrival in 2006. As on the debut, BE YOUR OWN PET, singer Jemina Pearl dominates the proceedings with her Gwen-Stefani-meets-Karen O. shriek, reeling off a series of yarns concerning all things teenage, with an emphasis on deviance, melodrama, and angst. As before, guitarist Jonas Stein and drummer Jamin Orrall churn out a raucous musical backdrop recalling the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at their most unhinged. With titles such as "Bitches Leave" and "Food Fight," BYOP would have you believe they haven't grown up a bit, but a close listen reveals an increased sense of craft and a new weariness beneath Pearl's yelp.

Audio Mixer: Joe Chiccarelli.

Recording information: Alex The Great Studios, Nashville, TN.

Be Your Own Pet: Nathan Vasquez, Jonas Stein, John Eatherly, Jemina Pearl.

Personnel: Jimmy Abegg (computer).

Rolling Stone (p.96) - Ranked #45 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "[The] band pulses with the precise formulism of X-Ray Spex."
CMJ - "[A]n album that tempers their teen fervor with '60s pop references, bursts of surf guitar and a few slower tracks to modulate their fierce tempos."
URB (Magazine) (p.109) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "When parties aren't the topic du jour, former paramours, classmates and groupies receive a punky vetting in track after track of underage rage done right."