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Label Clean Up Be Your Own Pet

25th March 2008 | by Aidan Williamson

Be Your Own Pet have found themselves on the receiving end of censorship by their U.S label after Universal pulled three tracks from the Stateside release of "Get Awkward".

"Black Hole", "Becky" and "Blow Yr Mind" have all been completely removed from the album despite featuring on the U.K and European versions of the release. The move was very much a last minute decision, maybe as little as a month before the CD was due on the shelves.

The reasoning behind the excise appears to be due to the songs “violent content”. The lyrics in question? Taken from "Black Hole": "Ooh, baby, wanna get in a fight! / Breaking glass bottles is oh-so-fun / Let's go and kill someone! / Living in this city, I get so bored / Wanna kill myself on a telephone cord". Or taken from "Becky": "I heard you talked a lot of shit about me to your new best friend / Doesn't matter anyway, cuz I've got a brand new friend, okay / Me and her, we'll kick your ass, / we'll wait with knives after class!" It's worth noting that the Universal umbrella in America counts 50 Cent, Eminem and Marilyn Manson among it's roster.

Frontwoman Jemina Pearl said of the news: "When I found out that the songs were going to get taken off, I was just like, 'Is there anybody I can talk to?' It's like, I don't even really know who these people are. There's no one you can talk to to try to argue your case. Other than that, Universal has been great. But I guess that's just what happens when you decide to have something to do with a major label. They're going to be scared of anything that's not completely cookie cutter."