It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the Nashville punk band Be Your Own Pet was the only band I listened to in 2008 – the log from iTunes for what’s played on my iPod confirm they were certainly the band I listened to the most last year. Their album, Get Awkward, was a blast of youthful energy from a band that sounded like they were getting in trouble when they weren’t rocking. The best part of the band, though, was their lead singer Jemina Pearl, who is every bit the badass Avril Lavigne pretends to be.

Be Your Own Pet broke up in the summer of 2008 and Pearl and BYOP guitarist John Eatherly moved to New York and recorded a fantastic and edgy pop record called Break it Up, which was just released last week. The album boasts an impressive roster of artists with appearances by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth (who has long been a supporter of BYOP) and Iggy Pop and was produced by Dave Sitek, an in-demand producer and member of TV on the Radio.

Jemina Pearl is currently touring the US while opening for Canadian indie rock band Islands. This tour includes a stop at Chop Suey on Monday, October 19. I spoke with Pearl by phone about a week into the tour and thought she was very friendly and easy to talk to.

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Last year, I spent a disproportionate ammount of time listening to Be Your Own Pet's second LP, Get Awkward. It was my favorite album of 2008 and even today has three of the top five spots on my Top 25 most played songs list on iTunes. It was this great teenage punk album made by some Nashville kids who spend their free time eating pizza, watching zombie movies and seeing what kind of trouble they can get into at the mall. It both deflates and confirms the worst suspicions adults had of their generation but just before the economy had its bottom yanked out from underneath itself, you could hardly fault anyone for being apathetic if they were dealt a hand that included growing up young in George Bush's America.

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"Ramones cover" turns up 3,630 entries on YouTube.

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I found out about this on Friday but didn't post anything on it until now just because I wanted to enjoy living in denial over the weekend.

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After Be Your Own Pet, I knew my ass was kicked and went home and straight to bed.

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The band said that they'd try to release an EP with the censored songs on them. I was skeptical but optimistic.

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I made one this afternoon. You can listen to it at imaginarychrisb.muxtape.com. What would be on yours?

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For fuck's sake.

Here's a story we all know too well: about three weeks ago, Fluxblog posted a song that I fell in love with. I've listened to the song over and over again and bought the album it was to be on the week it was released, when I got home and uploaded it to my iPod I realized my song just wasn't there. "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?" I wondered. Now I have the answer and you have no idea just how much it pisses me off.

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Tonight is a great night for shows in town: Brit pop rockers the Kooks are at the Croc, !!! (!!!) at Neumo's, but the Arctic Monkeys get my recommendation, if merely on points.

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If anything about BYOP assuages my mild reservations about kiddie bands on major labels, it's the fact that they honestly just sound like a really good band of teenagers.

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