Back in March last year Be Your Own Pet announced their reunion after fourteen years I was equal parts shocked and excited. I missed out on seeing the energetic four piece the first time around and the hope that they’d be playing more shows than just the initial announcement of two Jack White support slots, well that was something to look forward to. In that time they’ve clearly been fully engrossed in being a band again with a new record, Mommy, recorded and due out later this summer. Alongside Primavera the announcement of a show at Moth club was even better than I could have hoped – Be Your Own Pet in such a small sweatbox of a venue – how exciting!

Before Be Your Own Pet play, however, Brixton based Alien Chicks take to the stage to get things started. They’re totally new to me and they’re quite unpredictable. Songs flow well but each progression from verse to chorus, from intro to verse, even from between song to song, goes in a totally direction to what I would have expected. A short intro of yelps suddenly becomes a lush run of clean guitar chords and sung vocals. The bass player seems to spend half his time in the air despite the bass runs being intricate and interesting. The drums sound incredible too – more cowbell than I’ve heard in a long time helping create an infectious beat for everything else to sit upon.

By the time Be Your Own Pet take to the stage, Moth Club is absolutely packed and getting a bit warm. A few songs in the band definitely seem to be feeling it with talk of daily cardio but the whole set is fast paced and energetic from the get go. Thresher’s Flail is the perfect track to start with, throwing everyone into a frenzy, getting the pit moving straight away. By the time Wildcat! comes around there’s crowd surfing, there’s a bassist in the crowd, people have fallen down, it’s a wonderful chaos. There are peeks at new material with Hand Grenade and Worship the Whip in the later half of the set, a sneak peak of the forthcoming record, retaining all the fun features of Be Your Own Pet that I loved as a teenager.

“I really don’t want to puke tonight” says Jemima after another stint in the audience. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to slow down, the end of the set just hit after hit; Becky gets the biggest singalong of the night, clearly a fan favourite, Damn Damn Leash (one of my favourites) sounds incredible live, Bunk Trunk Skunk opens with the memorable refrain “I’m an independent motherfucker and I’m here to take your money”, the crowd yelling along before ending the main set with Bicycle Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle. The band return for an encore of a The Damned track before leaving us, sweaty and exhausted. They’ve been gone a long time and we’ve all aged a bit since the last time Be Your Own Pet were around but, tonight, you wouldn’t know it. The energy on stage and in the crowd felt just like going to sweaty DIY shows as a teenager. It felt great. What a riot!