The Spin: Be Your Own Pet at The Blue Room at Third Man Records, 7/18/2026

With Heavy Cream and Wesley & The Boys

Hometown champs Be Your Own Pet were just teenagers when they issued their nervy, self-titled debut album in 2006. Celebrating Be Your Own Pet’s 20th anniversary (!!!) Saturday night at The Blue Room at Third Man Records at the tail end of a quick run of shows, the quartet was older and wiser, sure — but no less dedicated to ripping it up with a flurry of sweaty, rapid-fire garage-punk bangers.

Fellow Nashvillians Wesley & the Boys and Heavy Cream warmed up the crowd for Saturday night’s show. The Creamsters have established a local garage-punk legacy of their own since their reunion last year. They aren’t resting on their laurels, however, and offered some new tunes that slotted in well alongside longtime fan favorite jams like the infectious “Watusi.”

With frontwoman Jemina Pearl outfitted in a cheerleading uniform — and owning the stage as ever with her snarling, live-wire presence — BYOP frontloaded their set with all 15 songs from their first album. Standouts included “Bicycle Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle” and the breakneck “Fuuuuuun” (we had to go back and refresh our memory, but there are indeed six u’s in that), which let drummer John Eatherly showcase his chops a bit.

Following the Be Your Own Pet tunes, the band threw in a mix-bag of other firecrackers from throughout their catalog, including “Teenage Heaven” from 2023’s Mommy and a set-closing rendition of The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” — a tune from a band whose influence is no doubt a major part of BYOP’s DNA. Pearl and company brought up some special guests for that cover, including the show’s openers, Be Your Own Pet producer (and Redd Kross co-founder) Steven McDonald and Pearl’s daughter Lula. It was a wholesome, full-circle moment and a conclusion that left The Spin feeling optimistic about the future of local rock ’n’ roll.

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