Be Your Own Pet Unleashes ‘Mommy’ at The Blue Room

Saturday night at The Blue Room felt like a step into the pre-bachelorette Nashville of 2006. The space was filled with familiar punk-scene faces of post-Y2K Music City, who you might have spotted on Elliston Place. I spied Drkmttr co-parent Olivia Scibelli, Cleft Music bossman Loney John Hutchins, G.U.N. bassist Stephen Sutton, Deluxin’s Eric Wright and a host of other regulars who were gigging around town back then, but still contribute to the local DIY world today. The kids of that era — now in their 30s or 40s — had hired babysitters so they could catch Be Your Own Pet. 

For four short years, the quartet was the strongest thread in the vibrant tapestry of Nashville’s indie scene, before unexpectedly signing off after releasing their second album in 2008. The members of BYOP don’t seem to regret disbanding back then — after all, they got together while they were still in high school and had the music business and everything that comes with it to grapple with, right off the bat. But Saturday was about far more than just nostalgia-bombing, as the reunited group was playing in their hometown for the first time since the August release of their third LP, Mommy. Old heads and new fans alike lined up for the hometown debut of the new material the group wrote after returning from the dead in 2019.

Leadoff hitters Being Dead, from Austin, Texas, were the perfect kind of opener. I had never heard of them before, and I had a lot of fun watching them. The sparse sound of the drum-bass-guitar trio had the off-kilter jangle of ’80s Sarah Records releases, the stompy ’60s reverb of The Trashmen and hint of the dissonance of The Raincoats. At the core of the band is a duo of multi-instrumentalists, who go by Falcon Bitch and Gumball — true entertainers who switch between drums and guitar midsong, with bassist Nicole Roman-Johnston anchoring the sound. Their stage banter felt heavy on inside jokes, but in a good way. I was excited to find out they had a few releases out over the past several years, including their twangy 2023 LP When Horses Would Run — time for a deep dive. They made an impact; before I left the show, I already spotted two new converts in Being Dead T-shirts fresh from the merch table, a mark of fandom seldom seen outside Metallica-grade arena rock.

Then Third Man co-founder and co-owner, occasional emcee and all-around scene enthusiast Ben Swank announced a special guest. Falconetti’s Face, the performance art alter-ego of film critic and regular Scene contributor Jason Shawhan, appeared on the stage that Jack White built for 15 minutes of a witty, dramatic rant about being interviewed for a job exploring outer space and being asked to list his greatest regrets. I was familiar with Shawhan’s kitchen-sink approach to humor from watching his film introductions at the Belcourt for many years, but this project shifts that idea into fifth gear. His spoken-word piece came with a full bag of campy tricks, and he pulled out anecdotes and references tying together the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion, a liaison at a Los Angeles realtor’s showpiece home, LSD and more. He also shouted out no wave poet Lydia Lunch and insinuated that he may have been involved in an international crime.

Be Your Own Pet’s members have been involved in a variety of musical projects that have played around Nashville and elsewhere since the band broke up. When they reunited, they played a not-so-secret warmup last year at East Side arts space Soft Junk and opened for the aforementioned Mr. White at Ascend Amphitheater. But Saturday’s show, coming after several festival appearances and some U.K. dates, was the quartet’s first proper headline gig in Nashville since their initial run; it would also be local fans’ first opportunity to hear BYOP performing new music. Mommy is just as ferocious and musically proficient as their earlier efforts and even more insightful. But the studio and the stage are different places, and it wouldn’t be unexpected for the band to tone down its legendary rambunctiousness a notch. 

Within seconds of taking the stage, they put any questions to rest. Frontwoman Jemina Pearl is just as bombastic as ever, shrieking and writhing, charming the crowd and maybe terrifying them a bit too. Guitarist Jonas Stein is still one of the most imaginative players in town, weaponizing his unique knack for pairing melody and noise. Stein’s freedom to do what he does comes from the confidence of playing off the locked-in rhythms of bassist Nathan Vasquez and drummer John Eatherly. 

The now-veteran punk unit blasted through a set list that included revived old favorites, standouts from Mommy and even a few covers highlighting their influences. Snooper vocalist Blair Tramel came out for a duet with Pearl on Devo’s “Girl U Want.” Late in the set, BYOP busted out a snarling version of the Misfits anthem “Attitude,” and they opened their encore with The Damned’s ripper “Neat Neat Neat.” The night wrapped up with Mommy closer “Teenage Heaven,” a dreamy pop slow dance.

The show was more than just a hometown victory lap for a phenomenal and influential band. It showed that Be Your Own Pet is still a force in Nashville music — every bit as crucial to this scene as they were as kids.

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