Be Your Own Pet: they're cute and mostly housebroken, but this precocious punk band is never tame

Given their animalistic sound, the chosen name of teen punk outfit Be Your Own Pet is an appropriate one. "It's just natural teenage angst," explains guitarist Jonas Stein who, along with singer Jemina Pearl, drummer Jamin Orrall, and bassist Nathan Vasquez, started the band in their hometown of Nashville four years ago.

Like a lot of young bands, the members of BYOP started out practicing in their parents' basements and competing in high school "battles of the bands." Unlike many young bands, all of the bandmembers' fathers are involved in the music business in some way, shape, or form: Pearl's dad is a guitarist and photographer; Stein's father is a manager; Vasquez's father is Latin-jazz guitarist Rafael Vasquez; and Orrall's father is a songwriter (the band takes their name from one of his compositions). "I think they were surprised that we were actually not that bad," Pearl says of her parents' attendance at an early gig. "They were always down with what was going on, but there was never any creative pressure or anything," says Stein.

Onstage, BYOP are a primal force, with Pearl leading the charge--a gyrating, lurching, head-banging mess of bleached-blonde hair. Orrall hits the base drum like a metronome set to presto and Stein does air splits like he's running imaginary hurdles, adding to the spectacle. "The first time we practiced I gave this really high-pitched scream that freaked Jonas out," says Pearl. "Sometimes my head hurts after a show, but then it'll be fine."

Though frequently compared to other raucous indie groups like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, BYOP's manic, adrenaline-fueled sound echoes more traditional punk. Their self-titled debut LP, out on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label, is 15 songs long and plays just over 30 minutes. "We decided it wasn't going to be the crazy balls-to-the-wall, fast-as-you-can-play punk rock hardcore stuff that we had been doing," says Stein, "but it's still pretty fast." The band may sound rebellious, but with lyrics like "Think you're really cool/Cause my mom likes you" and "We are adventuring/We are adventurers," BYOP stick to singing about what they know best: being young and having fun. "I just want to be a kid," says Stein.

Justin Conner is Interview's assistant editor.

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