''Mommy'' is the third full-length studio album by American punk/garage rock band

Be Your Own Pet Be Your Own Pet (also known as BYOP or stylised as be your own PET) is a punk/garage rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2003. For a majority of their career, the band's line-up has consisted of lead vocalist Jemina Pearl, guitarist ...

, released August 25, 2023 via

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell, and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Detroit, and Soho in London—with multiple entitie ...

. ''Mommy'' marks the group's first recorded material in almost fifteen years following the release of their second studio album, ''

Get Awkward ''Get Awkward'' is the second album by Be Your Own Pet. It was released on March 18, 2008. ''Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Franci ...

'' and subsequent break-up in 2008. The album was preceded by four singles, "Hand Grenade", "Worship the Whip", "Goodtime!" and "Big Trouble" released March 30, May 31, June 28, and July 26, 2023 respectively.

Background

Following a fourteen-year hiatus, Be Your Own Pet reunited in 2021 after lead singer, Jemina Pearl and guitarist, Jonas Stein were convinced by Pearl's husband and

co-owner, Ben Swank to reconnect on a personal level with each other after many years without communication since the band's tumultuous split in 2008. Swank also expressed the idea of re-releasing the group's first two full-length's, 2006's

self-titled An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

and 2008's Get Awkward through Third Man Records as a part of a retrospective series for the label. The idea prompted Pearl in reaching out to remaining members, bassist Nathan Vasquez and drummer John Eatherly about a reunion, which was agreed to under the condition that new music would be created. At the end of 2021, upon discovering the group was active once again Swank's business partner, American musician and songwriter,

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

expressed interest in having Be Your Own Pet as one of the opening acts on a few select dates of his 2022 North American Supply Chain Issues Tour. The band would serve as support acts during the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

shows of the tour and mark as the band's live debut performances since their break up, with the former taking place at

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on April 21. 2022. Following the tour, the band would spend the rest of 2022, writing and recording material for their third studio album at Battle Tapes Recording in Nashville with longtime collaborator, engineer and producer, Jeremy Ferguson.

Critical reception

''Mommy'' received a score of 83 out of 100 on review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on eleven critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim" reception. '' Uncut'' remarked that the band are "bummed to learn that adulthood breeds more angst than adolescence, which inspires a sharp-edged '70s hard rock, with songs celebrating kink and demanding equal pay and full-body autonomy on 'Big Trouble'". '' DIY''s Joe Goggins stated that "the ferocious energy that defined Be Your Own Pet first time around, however, remains, as does their knack for a nagging earworm of a chorus. Searing hooks and soaring melodies channel through a frontwoman with limitless charisma".

Track listing

Personnel

Be Your Own Pet *John Eatherly – drums, percussion, backing vocals,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Jemina Pearl Jemina Pearl Abegg (born June 20, 1987) is an American singer and the frontwoman of Be Your Own Pet, a punk rock band she started when she was 16. She appeared in the television series ''Gossip Girl'', in a musical performance with Thurston Mo ...

– vocals, production *Jonas Stein – guitar, backing vocals, production *Nathan Vasquez – bass guitar, backing vocals, production Additional contributors *Jeremy Ferguson – production, mixing,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

*Bill Skibbe – mastering *Jordan Williams – design *Marzena Abrahamik – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2023 albums Be Your Own Pet albums Third Man Records albums