Jemina Pearl, the bleach-blond screamer of Be Your Own Pet, will steal your virginity (or what’s left of it), take your money, and grind up and snort that Adderall on the counter, all in less than a minute and a half. Pounding proof can be found on “Bunk Trunk Skunk,” from the band’s eponymous 2006 debut.
This Nashville-bred teenage wrecking crew plays Ramones-style punk with reckless abandon, smashing shit left and right just to ease the boredom. They ride bicycles, make fun of “Stairway to Heaven,” and though Pearl may have caught Karen O’s Fever to Tell, she’s too damn restless to answer any questions beyond “yeah,” “it’s pretty cool,” and “whatever.”
No wonder Moore acts as the band’s surrogate father. He signals thumbs up from the side of the stage with one hand and records the band’s hissy fits with the other (see “Ciao Lolla,” Music, August 11, 2006). In fact, his voice swells with pride at the mere mention of their moniker.
“Even with all of the hype and buzz they got in the press, I still saw Be Your Own Pet as a band bustling around in the Nashville underground,” says Moore, who found the group through original drummer Jamin Orrall’s Infinity Cat Recordings. “They were playing a decidedly more challenging faction of punk rock, informed by things outside the typical garage-thing, stuff that was much more avant-garde.”
The paternal instinct comes naturally, as the Pets are a test case for Ecstatic’s joint venture with Universal.
“I couldn’t have put their record out any other way,” claims Moore. “They demanded and commanded more attention, which I was able to offer.”
This article appears in November 10 • 2006.