Jemina Pearl @ The First Unitarian Church

Jemina Pearl
@ The First Unitarian Church
November 3, 2009

Platinum blonde hair zig-zags through the air as a seemingly possessed body is propelled across the stage like an epileptic surfer caught in a swell. Jemina Pearl and her epically abrasive bratiness are back. Three years ago Pearl proved to be the brilliantly and chaotically sassy punk chanteuse that we had all hoped Karen O would be. Then she was fronting genius post Riot Grrrl outfit Be Your Own Pet. Now she’s back “on her own” (still joined by BYOP drummer John Eatherly) with a more refined take on the aesthetic of her former band.

Her solo debut, Break it Up, was released on October 6th via Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! Shockingly versatile (accessibly playful and credibly crass), the album may be competing for both the pop and punk albums of the year. Pearl finds herself under the mirrorball (“Ecstatic Appeal”), on the New Wave scene (“Retrograde”), and even at the sock hop, alongside Iggy Pop, with the most endearing song ever written about hatred (“I Hate People”). Of course, the old Jemina of BYOP can still be found on tracks like “After Hours” and “Selfish Heart,” albeit in much friendlier (and more coherent) form. Also noteworthy is Pearl’s bevy of bumper-sticker-on-her-textbook-ready words of pop wisdom (consider “Ain’t got time to linger, wave goodbye with the middle finger” or “My hands smell like cheeseburgers and cigarettes, on the tips of my fingers I count my regrets.” Any punk rock girl in need of a senior quote, look no further.

On November 3 Pearl found herself at the First Unitarian Church, Philthy’s proving grounds of indieness. The last time she was in the venue, she and the boys of BYOP successfully broke the boundaries between band and audience, leaving the crowd of about 50 as heavily bruised as they were after a riotous 25-minute set. Although her solo debut at the venue was far less hazardous, it proved to be nearly as much fun. The set boasted the better part of Break it Up, including the Runaways-esque “Looking For Trouble;” “D is For Danger,” a modern take on the girl-group sound; and “So Sick!,” the album’s most abrasive track, which left Ms. Pearl gasping for air and storming off the stage in a wonderful (albeit faux) fit of punk femininity… Ms. O, take note. – Izzy Cihak