‘Mommy’ is the much anticpated third album from Be Your Own Pet . The band originally split up back in 2008, with members of the band each focusing on their own projects. Then in 2021, Jack White invited Be Your Own Pet to be the support act for a number of dates on his Supply Chain Issues tour. The band reunited for the tour and ended up signing onto the record label Third Man records co owned by Jack White and BYOP’s singer Jemina Pearl’s husband. Two years later, fresh new music has landed.
The album is full of vigour and a renewed punk energy that surely must come with such a long hiatus as a band. ‘Mommy’ starts with the single ‘Worship the Whip’ and it means business. The song is a punky anthem taking aim at right wing authoritarian personalities. This sets the tone for the whole album. From start to finish this is an album with attitude and fire. There’s anger, such as on “Bad Mood Rising” with lyrics like “It’s like I’ve got two personalities, one that hates me and one that hates you.” There’s overwhelm about being an adult with responsibilities channeled into a punk rock fireball on ‘Goodtime!”- lyrics include- “I can’t be that way anymore, I’ve got two kids and a mortgage, what the fuck?” There’s also defiance and a reclaiming of the self on ‘Hand Grenade’ with the words ” I’m not a victim, I’m my own person, I’m not some casualty, I set myself free.”
Whilst ‘Mommy’ is overall a fierce album that spits punk rock in spades, some of the songs also have a small hint of Banarama style pop hidden amongst the hard exterior. The songs are mainly fast and heavy, but final track ‘Teenage Heaven’ is almost the polar opposite of opener ‘Worship the Whip’, calming things right down with something a little more mellow.
Overall, this is a kick ass album that was most definitely worth the lengthy wait.
‘Mommy’ is available now through Third Man Records and you can buy via Be Your Own Pet’s Bandcamp
Follow Be Your Own Pet on – Instagram/Twitter/Facebook
Article by Hayley Foster da Silva
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