Music Review

Be Your Own Pet’s Get Awkward

Track Listing:

Black Hole

Hearthrob

Becky

The Kelly Affair

Twisted Nerve

Blow Your Mind

Blummer Time

Bitches Leave

You’re A Waste

Food Fight

Zombie Graveyard Party

What’s Your Damage

Creepy Crawl

The Beast Within

The familar female fronted punk pop band, Be Your Own Pet, returns with Get Awkward and a stronger, more convicted soud. Though nonsensical punked out melodies are what Be Your Own Pet are known for, their second album brings less anthems to the stage. Songs like “You’re A Waste” and “Bitches Leave” are filled with more passion than theatrics with better crafted songs. Be Your Own Pet have significantly grown in sound largely due to their experiences touring and it shows through the full melody and rhythum. Jemina Pearl’s vocals are consistently raw but confident through slow songs, “Becky”, or fast-paced songs, “Twisted Nerve.” Familar songs showed the energy found on their self-titled, but overall there was a distinct lack of resonating singles on Get Awkward.

Although Get Awkward was released March 2008 and Be Your Own Pet broke up August of that year, there was a great potential in Get Awkward that the band could have taken in any direction. The variance in song structure and instrumentation from their second release show a growth in craftsmanship from the members and a general cohesiveness throughout the album.

While their new album doesn’t start a revolutionary sound, it is obvious that the band has selected their strengths and chosen to play songs that accentuate them. Pearl’s vocal range hasn’t left her signature sound, but the composition of each song is much more varied from the simple form of Be Your Own Pet. The self titled held true to a steady stream of musical punches accented at a steady beat while Get Awkward holds more tempo changes and musical flexibility. The humor isn’t lost on Get Awkward, either; “Food Fight” is reminiscent of the absurd lyrics of bored school kids found in their self-titled but now provoked to rebel in a more frenzied fight. The album is layered between slow melodic and fast paced songs, charged by short stuccato lyrics and a driving rhythm. And even though Be Your Own Pet settles nicely in between; they never had to get awkward.