20.

Be Your Own Pet
Be Your Own Pet

A short sharp start, this. Be Your Own Pet kick a serious amount of bottom. The album crashes along without them really stopping for breath. Great female-voiced pop punk (with perhaps more emphasis on the ‘punk’ than many comparable bands). Lots of attitude, nothing to change anyone’s world, admittedly, but good fun from start to finish with no dud tracks. My personal favourite is the slight shift in gear of ‘October, First Account’ with its chorus’ off-kilter guitar sound. It was an odd choice, I feel, to leave their best track off the album (the awesome ‘Fire Department’, which made me buy the album in the first place). One can only wonder why on earth that gem didn’t make the record. Be Your Own Pet has endured all year (being one of my first 2006 purchases), and it creeps in at the bottom of the list based upon sheer feelgood factor, although when I want something with some substance, I’ll look elsewhere.