be your own pet broke up

so apparently i am over a month behind in this news. if i hadn't checked the written blurb about them when my lastfm module popped up the other day while i was listening to them i would have never figured it out (as you can tell i don't read too many music blogs).

here is the wikipedia stub on it:

On August 1, 2008, the band announced on their website that after finishing a small tour of England, they would be breaking up.[2] The band posted the following message on their website; "To all of our fans, we are sad to bring you the news that our upcoming shows in the UK are going to be our last as a band. We thank you for all your love and support these past few years. It's been a blast, but the time has come for the four of us to go our separate ways".[3] Jemina explained to NME why they broke up, She said that it wasn't really fun for them anymore, especially Jonas who was considering leaving the band. They didn't want to be in BYOP without Jonas, so they decided the best thing to do was to just call it a day. She also said that its better we split now 'while people still give a fuck' than drag it on and on when our hearts wern't in it anymore. She also quoted a Neil Young song (and Kurt Cobain's suicide note) when she said 'someone once said "its better to burn out than to fade away" and maybe thats what we're doing'. On the brightside though, she said that Jonas Stein and John Eatherly would continue in Turbo Fruits, Nathan Vasquez will sill be part of Deluxin and she was heading to Oslo and Norway to write songs for a Jemina Pearl solo record which she said would be 'a little more mature'.

i've written about BYOP before, actually expounded on my initial hatred of them and how i grew to appreciate them. while it's sad they're broken up i'm concerned about what kind of progress they could have made together anyway. soon they won't be bratty teenagers (hell, jemina is already 20) and that's mostly their charm anyway. you can't be 35 and singing about food fights, beating up 12 year-olds or killing your best friend for fun.

so RIP BYOP! i've included a link to the zipped self-titled debut full-length album at the end of this post.

photos/video from the june 5 show at st. andrew's hall, detroit, mi (i know the quality's terrible, my camera is dying):







adventure:




becky:




links:

wikipedia
official website
myspace
flickr album of june 5 performance
previous byop post




01. thresher's flail
02. bunk trunk skunk
03. bicycle, bicycle, you are my bicycle
04. wildcat!
05. adventure
06. fuuuuuun
07. stairway to heaven
08. bog
09. girls on tv
10. we will vacation, you will be my parasol
11. let's get sandy (big problem)
12. october, first account
13. love your shotgun
14. fill my pill
15. ouch

download

be your own pet

i used to hate be your own pet. when i first saw them it was at the siren fest in coney island, ny, in the summer of...2006, i want to say? possibly 2005. either way, i hated it. i thought jemina pearl was insane and it actually made me uncomfortable that she would swear so much. isn't that weird?!

anyway i saw them again accidently, when they opened up for le tigre. slightly more annoying.

but, being a big believer in second, and in this case third, chances, i downloaded the song 'bicycle bicycle you are my bicycle' and that was the end of hate. i finally 'got' what they were doing and i have enjoyed them since.

my impression of what some music bloggers thought would happen is that they would mature and wouldn't have the same fun, loud, teen-punk element to them. but, while they have successfully matured as musicians, lyrically it's like they never changed. and i like that. sometimes you just want something that you know will be constant.

what's disappointing is that they signed with universal and without asking them, the label took three songs off without asking them because they were deemed 'too violent.' which is too bad, because one of the songs, 'becky,' is becoming one of my favourites.

"When I found out that the songs were going to get taken off, I was just like, 'Is there anybody I can talk to?' " Pearl said. "It's like, I don't even really know who these people are. There's no one you can talk to to try to argue your case. Other than that, Universal has been great. But I guess that's just what happens when you decide to have something to do with a major label. They're going to be scared of anything that's not completely cookie cutter."

Pearl paused to take a breath. "I also feel like it's a good thing to have an outlet," she continued. "Like, maybe I would be a very violent person if I didn't have the chance to sing about what I want to sing about and express things I want and it's definitely helped me from being a destructive person in my life. And I think tons of people relate to that, so it's kind of frustrating that they want to censor me or whatever." (full story)

i've put the album up for download, but i've added the three rejected songs to the zip.


be your own pet - get awkward


tracklisting
01. super soaked
02. the kelly affair
03. twisted nerve
04. heart throb
05. bitches leave
06. bummer time
07. you're a waste
08. food fight!
09. zombie graveyard party!
10. what's your damage?
11. creepy crawl
12. the beast within

bonus tracks
01. black hole
02. becky
03. blow yr mind

download