Adult Petting Zoo

Be Your Own Pet could get awkward, but would rather get boring.

Be Your Own Pet

Get Awkward

Released on Nov 30, -0001

2

When it comes time for me to pick my favorite obnoxious, female driven, predictable punk band, I simply don’t pick. Unfortunately for me, however, albums such as Be Your Own Pet’s Get Awkward are often forced upon me. With 12 tracks squeezed into this 30-minute album, there isn’t much idle time to be heard. The whole 30-minute deal could also be helpful when counting down until the albums conclusion. So it seems to me that being awkward would be the least of Be Your Own Pet’s worries after this album.

The album starts out strong with the song “Super Soaked.” The track hits me as a punk mix between the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Arctic Monkeys. Now in theory this sounds like it could be a fine sound, and you’d be right for a while. But after the first listen the lyrics start to crumble behind the music. I was disappointed to see that these were nothing more than your everyday, occasionally clever, but somewhat dull-witted punk rock lyrics.

There are several other tracks on the album which are worth a listen. These include, but are not concretely limited to, “Twisted Nerve” and “Creepy Crawl.” Both of these songs exhibit strong leads and hooks, as well as powerful vocals by Jemina Pearl. Not all the songs that remain could be quite as nice though, example A: “Bummer Time.” This song features a horrendous chorus of the men in the band chanting the tracks title.

Get Awkward presents a mixed blessing for fans of the band. While it is littered with flashes of brilliance on the subjects of spirit and musicianship, it let me down with the reoccurrences of repetition and bland lyrics. Nevertheless, the album is gaining popularity in the UK and US alike. This is a band with energy and flare, but lacking in the originality department.

High Point: Be Your Own Pet has an interesting sound, and this album has several good examples.

Low Point: The predictability and lack of originality in lyrical aspect really bums me out.

Quick Point: The US release of the album omitted three tracks included on the UK version. Universal’s lawyers claimed that these tracks were “too violent,” perhaps they were just the pick-me-up Get Awkward needed.

High Point

Low Point

Posted by Andrew Scott on Apr 16, 2008 @ 12:00 am