Rock Band Officially Returns With New Album 15 Years After Breaking Up

After nearly 15 years apart, Nashville’s Be Your Own Pet have returned with their long-awaited new album, Mommy, via Third Man Records. In the late 2000s, the four teenagers released two records and played to sold-out crowds worldwide. However, the fame came too quickly, and it was time to call it quits. Now, a decade and a half later, the band is back and has yet to lose its stride. Three of the founding members of the band were responsible for writing and recording the album Mommy, including Jemina Pearl Abegg (vocals), Jonas Stein (guitar), Nathan Vasquez (bass), as well as longtime drummer John Eatherly. A series of shows supporting Jack White helped BYOP make a successful comeback in March 2022. After reuniting in the rehearsal room for the first time since their breakup, they quickly realized their bond was still strong and began writing the album that very same day.

A mother of two, Pearl had previously added lyrics to other people’s songs, but this time, she wrote her own. “Mommy is the b— in charge, the one in control,” Pearl said in an official press release. “It’s a reclamation of myself.” After playing to sold-out rooms across the UK, Be Your Own Pet members had not been in the same room since December 2021. In their teenage years, the four Nashville musicians experienced a successful run but then moved on and struck out on their own individual paths. With Turbo Fruits, Stein produced four studio albums and spun disco records, while bassist Nathan Vasquez joined Deluxin’, drummer John Eatherly worked on Public Access Television, and Pearl released a solo album featuring Thurston Moore and Iggy Pop before starting a family.  

“For better or worse, we all were slapped in the face that it wasn’t as easy,” Stein said. “We were all moderately successful, but we didn’t have that Be Your Own Pet chemistry.” Reunion talk started to crop up, and a chance encounter with Jack White led to opening a show for him. “We started writing songs the first time we practiced,” Pearl said. “Immediately.” The dream of a single Nashville performance soon turned into a full run of gigs opening for Jack White as quickly as it started, and Be Your Own Pet became much more than just a band jamming out the old hits. 

“Be Your Own Pet was my identity for so long, and then when we broke up I went through this period where I didn’t know who I was anymore,” Pearl said. “I often felt so powerless back then. Not in control of my own mind or the chaos around me. That’s why it’s been so amazing to get a second chance with this band, as adults and on our own terms.” Mommy is now available on standard black vinyl, limited edition Living Dead Green indie colored vinyl (alternative cover), limited edition Reagan’s Spew Vinyl Me Please colored vinyl, and limited edition Brain Damage Blue Urban Outfitters colored vinyl + CD here. Be Your Own Pet will be hitting the road this fall for their first tour since reuniting. Tickets for the Teenage Heaven Fall Tour are currently on sale here, and all tour dates are listed below.

Tour Dates

8/20 – Broadcast – Glasgow, FC

8/22 – The Key Club – Leeds, UK

8/23 – Thekla – Bristol, UK

8/24 – Concord 2 – Brighton, UK

8/26 – All Points East – London, UK

8/27 – Rock en Seine – Paris, FR

8/29 – Rough Trade East – London, UK

8/30 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, UK

8/31 – Deaf Institute – Manchester, UK

9/16 – Third Man Records Blue Room – Nashville, TN

10/18 – Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC 

10/19 – Union Stage – Washington, DC  

10/21 – Elsewhere Hall – Brooklyn, NY  

10/22 – Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA

10/23 – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH

10/24 – Third Man Records – Detroit, MI

10/25 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL

10/27 – The Back Room at Colectivo – Milwaukee, WI

10/29 – Headliners Music Hall – Louisville, KY

11/8 – Soda Bar – San Diego, CA

11/9 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA

11/11 – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA

11/12 – Moe’s Alley – Santa Cruz, CA

11/14- Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA

11/16 – Star Theater – Portland, OR

11/17- Neumos – Seattle, WA

11/18 – The Pearl – Vancouver, BC