Be Your Own Pet @ Birmingham Academy 2 – March 26th 2008
I can honestly say I haven’t been to a gig like Be Your Own Pet in what feels like forever. After sticking to the floor for half an hour and having no impression whatsoever made on me by the support band I trotted on over to the merch stand where I was greeted by singer Jemina Pearl.
Promoting the recently released album ‘Get Awkward,’ the singer commented she’d been on tour since early February and will be until June; ‘I love it, I love getting the whole room to feel my energy, that’s the best thing for me.’ Her thick southern American accent sticks out like a homing beacon in the small Birmingham venue and so begins to draw attention. Seeming perfectly comfortable and relaxed walking around the venue, she shakes my hand, poses for a photo and smiles before retiring backstage for ‘some beers and to prepare.’
I myself had heard of the band but wasn’t fully prepared for what was to follow. The relaxed atmosphere was literally smashed in a frenzy of grinding fast guitars and addictive stomping drum beats. Catchy melodies add to the strong sense of who the band are, their style and sound is as unmistakable as it is individual.
The audience seemed to be full of dedicated fans, a mix of the old to the young and to say that they ‘went for it’ would perhaps be the understatement of the century. The energy the band injected was infectious, blasting through the room, with noone was standing still.
Pearl proved herself to be a fully competent front woman. She has a clear raw talent and a certain eighties swagger surrounded her with a confidence which was almost hypnotic, yet seeming so effortless. Each songs is fast, hyped, pumped and energetic, and I’m left almost breathless in between songs which end as abruptly as they begin.
Be Your Own Pet were an amazing act to see. I previously would not have considered myself to be a fan, but I was blown away by the force of the performance.
Review and photo – Kiran Brach