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Jun 01, 2023 By Kat Ramkumar Photography by Kirt Barnett

Be Your Own Pet have come roaring back into the punk-rock scene after a 15 year hiatus and they’re here to stay. The band just announced the release of their new album, Mommy, and shared its lead single “Worship the Whip,” through a music video. They have also announced fall 2023 tour dates. Listen to the single below, followed by the new LP’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as the tour dates.

The band, started when members Jemina Pearl Abegg (vox), Jonas Stein (guitar), Nathan Vasquez (bass), and John Eatherly (drums) were teenagers, had a tumultuous whirlwind in the limelight during the early 2000s leading to some time apart. Now, they’re back sounding better than ever as seen in the release of their recent single, “Hand Grenade” which is also on the new album.

Be Your Own Pet stands unabashedly tall with their political ideologies, as “Worship the Whip” is about authoritarian right-wing personalities. “Aggressive and domineering to people who don’t think like them, while at heart being a submissive to the authority figures who use and abuse them.” says Pearl in a press release.

The LP came to fruition after band members realized that following a music career wasn’t as easy on their own. “We were all moderately successful, but nobody found that Be Your Own Pet chemistry,” Stein says. Mommy holds an aura of reclamation for Pearl, as she brought her own songwriting ideas to the table. “Mommy is the bitch in charge, the one in control,” Pearl says.

Be Your Own Pet have attributed their new music to personal growth over the last few years.

“This time around, we wanted to come back together in this new, more evolved place, to connect the threads between our old records and Mommy, while not worrying about what other people’s expectations might be.” Pearl says.

Mommy tracklist:

1. Worship The Whip
2. Goodtime!
3. Erotomania
4. Bad Mood Rising
5. Never Again
6. Pleasure Seeker
7. Rubberist
8. Big Trouble
9. Hand Grenade
10. Drive
11. Teenage Heaven

Be Your Own Pet Tour Dates

6/3 - Primavera Sound - Barcelona, Spain
6/5 - Third Man - London, UK *SOLD OUT *
6/6 - The Moth Club - London, UK * SOLD OUT *
6/7 - The Moth Club - London, UK *SOLD OUT *
6/10 - Primavera Sound - Madrid, Spain
9/16 - Third Man Records Blue Room - Nashville, TN
10/18 - Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC
10/19 - Union Stage - Washington, DC
10/21 - Elsewhere Hall - Brooklyn, NY
10/22 - Underground Arts - Philadelphia, PA
10/23 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
10/24 - Third Man Records - Detroit, MI
10/25 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
10/27 - The Back Room at Colectivo - Milwaukee, WI
10/29 - Headliners Music Hall - Louisville, KY
11/8 - Soda Bar - San Diego, CA
11/9 - Teragram Ballroom - Los Angeles, CA
11/11 - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
11/12 - Moe’s Alley - Santa Cruz, CA
11/14- Harlow’s - Sacramento, CA
11/16 - Star Theater - Portland, OR
11/17- Neumos - Seattle, WA
11/18 - The Pearl - Vancouver, BC

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