it’s always a shame when art suffers at the expense of morality. while BYOP may not be the first band you think of in terms of “art,” their latest album has been the victim of some pretty mindless censorship. the bigwigs at universal, the band’s (who are on thurston moore’s ecstatic peace label) distribution company, decided 3 out of the 15 tracks intended for get awkward were “too violent,” offering american and canadian audiences an incomplete album, while the UK gets the full 15. the resulting album cut is a bit sanitized, as the tracks that were cut are also some of the album’s best. a lot of the “violent” moments are rooted in humour, and are actually very funny– “becky” starts out as a sweet number about falling out with a friend in high school, which at first seems played out if not completely juvenile, but quickly escalates to the point where the narrator is waiting for becky outside of class with knives. it’s the almost 180 degree turn from sweet, bubblegum punk to a kind of black bubblegum that works quite well. jemina pearl picks up on the clichéd attitude of songs like avril lavigne’s “girlfriend” and goes beyond just saying “i don’t like your girlfriend” to “i don’t like your girlfriend so i’m going to take her out back and light her on fire.” by taking such matters so seriously, the song pokes fun at the kind of juvenalia that this album is revelling in, hence, get awkward. overall, pearl delivers her lyrics with a fierceness that demands attention, backed by a band who somehow manage to sound just as chaotic as they sound tight and focused.
Filed under: Album Review , 2008, be your own pet, BYOP, get awkward
