Be Your Own Pet formed in 2004, while Pearl, Stein, bassist Nathan Vasquez and drummer Jamin Orrall were teenagers, and were overnight sensations right from the start with their single "Damn Damn Leash." (When Orrall left the band, John Eatherly took over on drums.) Thurston Moore signed them to his Ecstatic Peace label and the band opened for Sonic Youth, Arctic Monkeys, and more while they were still too young to legally drink. "We played our first show at a pizza place that had all ages shows in the basement," Pearl says, "and then less than a year later we were being flown across the country to be courted by labels. It was quite literally a whirlwind and incredibly overwhelming.”
It may have been a case of Too Much Too Soon, and the band broke up in 2008 after releasing their second album, Get Awkward. Pearl went solo and covered the Ramones "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" with Thurston Moore for an episode of Gossip Girl; original drummer Orrall formed JEFF the Brotherhood with his brother, Jake; Stein formed Turbo Fruits (which also included Eatherly, who went on to play in The Virgins and then led Public Access TV).
Be Your Own Pet will open for Jack White in Atlanta on April 28, and Nashville on April 30. Will there be more shows beyond that?. Stay tuned.
Jack White has lined up an interesting assortment of openers for his tour.