June 17th, 2008 12:54pm

Always Going Back And Forth

Be Your Own Pet “Black Hole” – When it was announced that this song was cut from the American edition of Be Your Own Pet’s second album out of concern for the violence in its lyrics, it was more than a little bit confusing, mainly because it’s so hard to imagine that anyone could hear it and not immediately grasp that Jemina Pearl was not being very serious. Make no mistake: “Black Hole” is 100% over-the-top adolescent hyperbole. It’s about being bored, and wanting to devour junk food, and cause some mischief. It’s specific to post-50s America, but I suspect that it’s tapping into a universal human impulse to goof around and fuck shit up. The band express this impulse with remarkable clarity and style — the guitars stab and slash, the beat hurtles forward, and Pearl’s lyrics hit this ideal balance of idiocy and brilliance: “Eating pizza is really great / so is destroying everything you hate!” Yes! Yes, that’s true! (Click here to buy it via Be Your Own Pet’s official site.)

Veruca Salt “I’m Taking Europe With Me” – I’m not sure if this is actually my favorite Veruca Salt song — “Number One Blind” and “Don’t Make Me Prove It” are very tough competition — but it is certainly the one that manages to squeeze in everything great about the original version of the band into four minutes. Huge, pummeling riffs designed to emasculate indie boys? You got it. Sugary hooks? Check. An unexpected shift into spacey balladry? Yup. A slighty deranged sense of humor? Of course. Totally unhinged screaming? Hell yeah! Oh Veruca Salt, will there ever be a time when you’re not totally underrated? Unfortunately, no. (Veruca Salt’s Blow It Out Your Ass… EP is out of print, but you can find it used on Amazon for a fairly low price.)