Be Your Own Pet
Fire Department

Hold onto your hats musical opinionists. Like a hurricane blowing past all hurdles to teenage expression Be Your Own PET emerge from a rock ‘n’ roll fragment of Nashville weaving a fire trail of concise riffs and knowingly stylish havoc.

Swiftly gaining acclaim and derision from all quarters, they tore up the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury with a seething set of posture and attitude that was enough to lure a dying man into the horde at the front. While an obvious reference point, Courtney Love, could never quite you feel get past an inkling of drama school pretension, BYOP’s Jemina Pearl oozes a direct, “innocent” charm of pure vivacity that could speak to the whole divide of modern music fans, then divide them into further segments. ‘Fire Department’, all squeals and cartoonish vitriol, makes a hell of a jagged noise led into the spectacular by the mellifluous wail of the jewel Jemina. Evoking memories of post-punk pioneers Life Without Buildings, it’s an anarchically melodic whirl of post-rock guitar and stream-of-consciousness lyrical bile that less than politely advises us to take notice. The B-sides writhe at a similar temperature. ‘Take That Walk’ is a thrilling, ebbing and brooding musical piece, the guitars rising out of a repetitive drum intro in fits of grace, and Jemina showing the real soulful, song-side of her voice belting out a lustful tune fit for a rock ‘n’ roll Patsy Cline. ‘Hillmont Avenue’ is over in a brilliant spasmodic fit, and thus the band let us dream of an industry-coveted impending debut album – a lot more will be said.