Be Your Own Pet | |
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.jpg) Be Your Own Pet in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
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Be Your Own Pet (also known asBYOP or stylised asbe your own PET) is apunk/garage rock band fromNashville, Tennessee, formed in 2003. For a majority of their career, the band's line-up has consisted of lead vocalistJemina Pearl, guitarist Jonas Stein, bassist Nathan Vasquez and drummer John Eatherly. After originally releasing early singles and EPs with Nashville-based Infinity Cat Records, the band signed toXL Recordings andThurston Moore's label,Ecstatic Peace/Universal Records in the UK & North America respectively.
Be Your Own Pet released theirself-titled debut album in 2006, receiving critical acclaim from publications such asNME andPitchfork. Shortly following the release of their second albumGet Awkward in 2008, the group disbanded, citing misogyny directed towards and experienced by Pearl and a general burnout from pressures of the music industry as the reasons for their split.[1]
Following a fourteen year hiatus, they reunited in 2021 after being specifically requested by American musician and songwriter,Jack White to open up on a few southeastern US dates of hisSupply Chain Issues Tour in support of the two studio albums he would release that year.[2] They subsequently signed toThird Man Records (co-owned by White and Pearl's husband, Ben Swank) soon after, where the group released their third studio album,Mommy on August 25, 2023.[3]
The band formed while all members were in high school atNashville School of the Arts. The group honed its sound playing house shows and gigs at the all-ages venues Guido's Pizza and Bongo Java. The band released their first single,Damn Damn Leash, as a CD-R; the track made its way toBBC Radio One presenter Zane Lowe, whose support for Be Your Own Pet won the band an early U.K. following. Meanwhile, attention-getting gigs at 2004's CMJ and 2005'sSouth by Southwest began creating a buzz for the group stateside. A string of EPs followed.
BYOP performed at festivals such asCoachella,Bonnaroo,Glastonbury, andReading & Leeds. They also supported bands such asArctic Monkeys,Sonic Youth,Kings of Leon, amongst others.
The band received critical acclaim fromPitchfork,Rolling Stone, and many other publications such asNME, who named Pearl in the Top 10 of their annual "Cool List", andNylon, who put the band on the cover of their summer 2006 issue. The group made their debut TV performance onLate Night with Conan O'Brien.
On August 1, 2008, the band announced on their website that after finishing a small tour ofEngland, they would be breaking up. 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."[4] Their final show of their initial run was atDingwalls in London in August 2008.
In a 10-year retrospective article for the filmScott Pilgrim vs. the World, directorEdgar Wright revealed that Be Your Own Pet was originally asked to write the music for the fictional band Sex Bob-Omb, but their breakup prevented this from happening. The role was then given toBeck.[5]
Jemina Pearl released her debut solo albumBreak It Up on October 6, 2009, byEcstatic Peace Records. The album was co-written with Eatherly, and featured guest appearances fromThurston Moore,Iggy Pop,Dave Sitek and Derek Stanton. During the 2010s, Pearl played in a garage-punk band called The Ultras S/C, alongside Ben Swank and Chet Weise.
Stein focused on his side project,Turbo Fruits, which released several albums after Be Your Own Pet's disbanding. Eatherly, meanwhile, played drums with bands such asThe Virgins,Smith Westerns andChairlift. He was the lead singer of the bandPublic Access TV, and went on to front the project Club Intl.[6]
In March 2022, Be Your Own Pet announced they would be reuniting to perform two concerts in April 2022 opening forJack White'sSupply Chain Issues Tour.[7]
In March 2023, the band released the single "Hand Grenade," their first new music in 15 years.[8] Two months later, they released second single "Worship the Whip" and announced that their first album since reuniting, titledMommy, would be released on August 25, 2023.[9] This was followed by a tour of the UK.[10]
In March and April 2025, the band toured withThe Linda Lindas, playing ten shows in the westernUnited States andVancouver,Canada.[11]
Current members
Former members
Timeline
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] | UK Ind. [13] | ||
| Be Your Own Pet |
| 47 | 3 |
| Get Awkward |
| 101 | 7 |
| Mommy |
| — | 28 |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
| Release date | Title | Peak chart positions | Notes | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14] | UK Indie | |||||
| 2004 | "Damn Damn Leash"(Rough Trade/Infinity Cat) | 68 | — | Released in 2005 in Europe and Japan | Non-album singles | |
| 2005 | April 20 | "Extra Extra"(Infinity Cat) | — | — | ||
| June | "Fire Department"(Rough Trade/Infinity Cat) | 59 | — | |||
| "Extra Extra Handmade Edition"(Infinity Cat) | — | — | Limited to 100 copies | |||
| "Girls on TV"(Infinity Cat) | — | — | Tour-only single | Be Your Own Pet | ||
| 2006 | January | "Let's Get Sandy (Big Problem)"(XL) | 51 | — | ||
| March | "Adventure"(XL) | 36 | — | |||
| June | "Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle"(XL) | — | — | Download-only single | ||
| 2008 | March 3 | "Food Fight!(XL) | — | 8 | 7" and download-only | Get Awkward |
| "Super Soaked(XL) | — | 5 | ||||
| March 10 | "The Kelly Affair(XL) | — | 6 | |||
| March 17 | "Black Hole(XL) | — | 5 | |||
| 2023 | March 30 | "Hand Grenade"(Third Man) | — | — | Mommy | |
| May 31 | "Worship the Whip"(Third Man) | — | — | |||
| May 31 | "Goodtime!"(Third Man) | — | — | |||
| May 31 | "Big Trouble"(Third Man) | — | — | |||
| 2025 | September 16 | "What a Bitch"(Third Man) | — | — | Non-album single | |
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