Jemina Pearl Break It Up

I was a bit upset when Be Your Own Pet broke up in 2008. Not cry myself to sleep sad, but at least pint of Ben and Jerry’s sad. True, they made pretty straightforward music, but there was a little something thrown in there that I just couldn’t get a fix for anywhere else. The answer? Jemina Pearl. Her teenage yelps and raw energy made the bands raucous, noisy punk that much more entertaining and gave it an incredibly unique element. The bizarre, nonsensical lyrics carried a whole lot more power sung by a bratty seventeen year old. So naturally, when I found out that the most integral member of Be Your Own Pet was making a solo album, and that the music was to be written by the drummer, John Eatherly, I wanted in on the action. Throw in a few tasty guest star appearances by Thurston Moore, Iggy Pop and even Dave Sitek, and you have what’s probably going to be at the very least an entertaining record.

And entertain they sometimes do. The album is filled with what you would expect from Pearl minus the rest of the band: bratty, bouncy teen pop. The music is fun for a while, and it’s cool when guests show up, but it gets dull and repetitive pretty quick. She often comes off like an edgier, more indie-friendly Avril Lavigne, dropping lines that seem like they’re trying too hard to make her seem like the bad girl. Lyrics like “It’s not all the cocaine/not the chemical imbalance in my brain” and “wave goodbye to the middle finger” feel forced.

The music behind the lyrics is solid and well put together but instantly forgettable. It often comes off as interchangeable backing tracks. It’s clear they’re trying to explore different genres, like the classic rock hints on Looking For Trouble and the hints of noise on After Hours (on which Thurston Moore plays guitar). This could potentially be a good thing, but the ultra-smooth production dulls the edges so much that it comes off as bland, something-for-everyone takes on various influences. Eatherly is clearly trying not to step on her feet much and let her take the reins with her vocal performances, but his compositions are worse off because of it. 

In the end, we're left with a bunch of fluff and a few solid tracks. I Hate People, which features Iggy Pop, fits her ethos well and finds her singing “oh I/I hate people/but you/you do too”. Retrograde is a decent enough song. Overall, its great music for a show like Gossip Girl. It’s bratty and fits the shows catfight image well and gives the indie cred they are going for in their music choices. She actually appeared on the show last year with Thurston Moore, who seems to appear on it far more than one would expect from the average noise-rock guitar god. Pearl, at least the one presented to us on Break It Up would fit in wonderfully as a character on the show. She’d be a little edgier than her OC equivalents but equal in her forced bratty-ness.