Punk rock has always had a destructive, thrill-seeking streak, going back to such early rabble-rousers as Blondie's "Rip Her to Shreds", the Ramones' "Beat on the Brat", and the Stooges' "Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell". The havoc-wreaking songs on Be Your Own Pet's brand new album Get Awkward are just the latest additions to this lineage of cartoonish mayhem.
But three Get Awkward tunes were removed from the album's U.S. version at the last minute, having been deemed too violent by Universal Records. (Universal releases Be Your Own Pet's albums through a deal with the band's U.S. label, Ecstatic Peace.)
"Blow Yr Mind", "Black Hole", and "Becky" all appear on the international version of Get Awkward, released by XL Recordings.
Yes, Universal, an imprint of the Universal Music Group, home to such ******-friendly artists as Eminem, 50 Cent, Marilyn Manson, and (formerly) Nine Inch Nails, thinks these songs are too violent to be heard by American audiences. Yes, this is the same company that once put out records by a band that calls itself ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead.
