Be Your Own Pet

The music industry takes forever to change direction or regain lost momentum -- hence the release of back-to-rock CDs like this one a year or two after the trend peaked. If Be Your Own Pet's latest seems doomed to commercial failure, however, the disc is more than lively enough to...

By Michael Roberts

June 22, 2006

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The music industry takes forever to change direction or regain lost momentum -- hence the release of back-to-rock CDs like this one a year or two after the trend peaked. If Be Your Own Pet's latest seems doomed to commercial failure, however, the disc is more than lively enough to justify its existence.

The show's star is Jemina Pearl, a Nashville teen with a raucous squawk and a degree from the fat-cat-on-a-mat school of rhyming. Granted, "Bicycle Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle" ain't exactly Keats, but verses such as "We will come to your town/Burn your house down/Turn the sky brown/All because...we're on two wheels, baby!" are irresistible -- and so is the decision to the name a 105-second-long sonic spasm "Stairway to Heaven."

Although some of this material coasts by on sheer exuberance, the results still add up to a half-hour of "Fuuuuuun" (the name of another tune here). This particular Pet may be bound for the death house, but it's gonna have a good time before getting the gas.

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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