boston.com Arts and Entertainment your connection to The Boston Globe
Sound Effects - Music news and reviews from The Boston Globe
Joan Anderman is a staff music critic for the Boston Globe.
Sarah Rodman is a staff music critic for the Boston Globe.
James Reed is the assistant arts editor and a frequent music contributor.
Music Mailbag
Ask the Globe's music writers a question about local bands, forthcoming shows, or anything else.
Name:
E-mail:
Your question:
Week of: August 12
Week of: August 5
Week of: July 29
Week of: July 22
Week of: July 15
Week of: July 8

« Futureheads Cancel Future U.S. Tour | Main | Single Stroke »

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Take away her soapbox.

2005.07.16_BE_YOUR_OWN_PET.jpg

As Linda Laban wrote in yesterday's Globe, Be Your Own played a noisy, short set at the Mid East on Saturday night. But I'm going to take exception to the characterization of the band as "uber-focused," mostly because on Saturday night, Be Your Own Pet was anything but focused, and also because the four-piece managed to cover up all traces of its somewhat-considerable talent with, like... noise. Yeah, so Be Your Own Pet is young, and Jemina Pearl is pretty, and energetic. And yeah, there are even a few good pop-hooks here, and some solid song-writing. But there's also a lot of theatrics masquerading as performance art; and a lot of head-shaking and mosh-pit-baiting tremors for the sake of head-shaking and mosh-pit-baiting tremors. Looks, Karen O. rocks, and she's certainly an admirable role model for a young up-and-comer. But the Yeahs channel mood, emotion, and (!!!) socio-political commentary (!!!) through their tunes, while BYOP just channels played-it-before teen angst through the blown-out mouthpiece of a bullhorn. Someone take away the kid's soapbox, yo.

Better? The Black Lips' set. Raucous, tight, and then spilling-out-at-the-edges; fuzzed out, angry, and equal parts Clash and Black Keys. These guys rock.

Sponsored Links