be your own PET

Be Your Own Pet channel Jemina Pearl's electrified vocals and the propulsive garage-rock supplied by her bandmates across both eras of activity. Emerging from Nashville, Tennessee while still teenagers in the mid-2000s, they delivered tracks that fused frenetic energy with sharp hooks. Their whirlwind noise-pop, and Pearl's words above all, distilled the thrill and disorder of youth; the self-titled 2006 album and 2008's Get Awkward placed enjoyment and aggression in the same frame. That combustible mix, plus the routine sexism Pearl confronted, prompted the band's dissolution soon after the second album. Traces of their approach nevertheless surfaced in Paramore and Big Joanie, and the 2020s reunion—marked by live appearances and the fierce 2023 album Mommy—found Be Your Own Pet steering their own direction with clear authority.

The group formed in 2004 among students at the Nashville School of the Arts. Pearl on vocals, bassist Nathan Vasquez, drummer Jamin Orrall—who operated Infinity Cat with brother Jeff—and guitarist Jonas Stein, then also active in another Infinity Cat act, Jimmy Cushman, adopted the name from a track by labelmates Art Circus. They refined their volatile yet melodic style through house parties and shows at the all-ages rooms Guido's Pizza and Bongo Java, later cutting demos alongside Jacquire King and Orrall's father, singer-songwriter Robert Ellis Orrall.

Their debut single, the taut, hook-driven “Damn Damn Leash,” which recalled the punch of Blondie and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, appeared on Infinity Cat as a CD-R in September 2004. BBC Radio One's Zane Lowe championed the track, lifting it to number 68 on the U.K. Singles Chart. Early U.S. exposure arrived via 2004 CMJ and 2005 South by Southwest performances, while a series of Rough Trade and XL EPs followed: a reissue of Damn Damn Leash, Fire Department in 2005, and early-2006's Let's Get Sandy (Big Problem), the latter two both charting in the U.K. March's Adventure became the band's first U.K. Top 40 single. Thurston Moore, an early supporter, licensed their catalog for U.S. release on Ecstatic Peace. April 2006's Summer Sensation compiled demos and EP material for wider American distribution. Produced by Redd Kross' Steve McDonald, the full-length Be Your Own Pet arrived that March in the U.K., where it reached number 47 on the Albums Chart, and June in the U.S., delivering raw garage-punk shaped by references to Dawn of the Dead and Samuel Coleridge's Kubla Khan.

Orrall departed in September 2006 to attend college and focus on his garage-rock project JEFF the Brotherhood with his brother. John Eatherly took the drum chair, and the band reconvened with McDonald in mid-2007; Infinity Cat issued the Not Rocket Science EP around the same time. Released via Universal, Ecstatic Peace, and XL, March 2008's Get Awkward delivered a tougher yet playful blend of punk, new wave, and girl-group pop. The album climbed into the U.K. Indie Albums Top Ten, and four singles—“Food Fight!,” “Super Soaked,” “The Kelly Affair,” and “Black Hole”—each reached the U.K. Indie Singles Top Ten. Universal excised several tracks deemed overly violent from the U.S. version, issuing them separately in June as the Get Damaged EP.

Following a handful of U.K. dates, Be Your Own Pet disbanded in August 2008, citing mounting external pressures during the creation and promotion of Get Awkward together with the misogyny directed at Pearl. The split occurred just before they were approached to score the fictional band Sex Bob-Omb for Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World adaptation, a task that ultimately went to Beck. Pearl's solo album Break It Up surfaced in October 2009, featuring contributions from Moore, Dave Sitek, Iggy Pop, and Eatherly, who co-wrote its material. She later performed with Ben Swank in Ultras S/C and started a family with him. Stein issued several albums with Turbo Fruits in the late 2000s and early 2010s before establishing himself as a DJ. Eatherly worked with Chairlift and Smith Westerns, then fronted Public Access T.V., which released two well-received albums in the late 2010s.

In 2021 the members reconnected while exploring reissues and began writing new material. Early 2022 saw them support Jack White on multiple dates, their first shows in fourteen years. After signing with Third Man Records, they tracked at Nashville's Battle Tapes Recording with producer-engineer Jeremy Ferguson. Issued in August 2023, third album Mommy presented taut garage-rock propelled by Pearl's direct lyrics on motherhood, control, and authoritarian politics.