We’re privileged. Jemima Pearl has just told us that Be Your Own Pet have treated us – me and all the boisterous kids in ULU – to their longest ever set. Not that it’s long – at about 40 minutes, you’ll never be able to accuse them of being prog. But heck, they pack a lot into their short time on stage. The diminutive frontwoman is a seething ball of energy as she darts back and forth across the stage, yelling lyrics into the mike. Her bandmates though do try to keep up, swinging their respective basses and guitars around, and on one occasion, successfully crowd-surfing while still playing. Even the drummer comes out occasionally to speak to the crowd too. It’s all a lot of fun. Or should I say fuuuuuuuuuuuun?!BYOP’s eponymous debut album was a bit of a revelation for me – I really wasn’t expecting it to be any good, but I was pleasantly surprised. Seeing them live isn’t quite a revelation though – these gigs were never going to be about technical proficiency. That’s not the point. It’s all about bratty teenage punk riotous energy (with some built in awkwardness). And the kids in the crowd, most of whom are probably about the same age as the band, are loving it. I don’t go to that many gigs these days where the moshpit takes up half the venue. It makes me feel old, standing on the edge of the tumbling teenagers zone (and remembering the last time I dived into the moshpit – in this same venue while the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion were playing, oooh, years ago). But that’s OK. To them, I’m probably ancient.
The short songs are played fast, with hardly a breath in between. And suddenly they’re at the end. My highlights are also my album highlights – OUCH and Fill My Pill. And Damn Damn Leash of course. They sound great. And they do the shortest encore I’ve even seen. It may have been the less-than-one-minute Let’s Get Sandy, but it’s sometimes difficult to tell the songs apart.
Outside the venue the streets of Bloomsbury are thick with inebriated, still-excited young people, revelling in the joy of the post-gig buzz. I chuckle and go home.
Download: Be Your Own Pet - OUCH
Download: Be Your Own Pet - Damn Damn Leash
The Rogers Sisters provided fine support. More on them later.
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4 comments:
The gig was so good. Absoloutley crazy.
i'm old (28) and was lairing about with the younguns...didn't crowd surf of course...heels and mini dress are my grown up attire as opposed to the band t and scuzzy jeans of my youth - still got hot and sweaty and let loose my inner karen-o though! it's good that such an obviously young awkward snotty group as byop can transcend age barriers like this - if you're a fan of high energy loopy spitting noize then this was the gig to be at whatever your birth date! now who were the initial support (3 guys and girl bass) - their raucous hollering pulled me from the bar which at that early hour was more of a medicinal trip 'hair of the dog style' so they must be as good as i remember them!
Glad to hear it's not just the kids who can enjoy a gig like this. I certainly did, though I wasn't as brave as you in braving the bit (maybe its because I have three years on you, who knows..?). btw, the support was the Rogers Sisters - you can check out my review and some tracks from their ace new album The Invisible Deck on this very blog...
These guys are fantastic, their presence on the stage is incredible, excellent review.
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