In 2022, widely loved punk champions Be Your Own Pet reunited for their first shows since Jemina Pearl & Co. went their separate ways in 2008. Opening a few shows for Jack White turned into a handful of festival dates and a whirlwind of gigs at SXSW. Now, they’ve released “Hand Grenade,” their first new single since their second LP Get Awkward, with an accompanying music video.
In the song, Pearl confronts people who’ve done her harm. At first it’s a show of force, as she sings, “When you can’t sleep / I’ll be the reason / In the middle of the night.” But then she finds a path to healing that focuses on her power to determine her own way forward: “I am the reason / That I keep movin’ / Toward something more human.”
“‘Hand Grenade’ started out as a threat to the people who harmed me, that I will make them suffer as I have suffered,” reads a statement from Pearl. “But the song grew like a mirror to my own grief process, through anger, denial, sorrow. In the end, I gain my power back not through violence, but through self-acceptance and rejection of the labels others might put on me. I define myself, no one else.”
Recorded with Jeremy Ferguson at Battle Tapes and released via Third Man Records, “Hand Grenade” is as energetic a ripper as any that Pearl and her bandmates Jonas Stein, Nathan Vasquez and John Eatherly made as teenagers. Eatherly directed the music vid, which features the band thrashing amid smoke and strobe lights in Pearl’s basement, with the group backing her up on the chorus chanting “I’m not afraid.”
Check it out above and follow this handy link to find the track on your favorite streaming service. Right after the video was published, the band announced their first U.K. show in 15 years — to keep up with all the developments (perhaps a new album, one can hope), keep an eye on BYOP’s Instagram.
