Almost immediately after Jane's Addiction's initial 1991 breakup, frontman Perry Farrell and drummer Stephen Perkins formed Porno For Pyros, a band that had what was arguably an even more chaotic run. Most of Porno For Pyros' legacy is extremely messy,. but before things started going sideways, the band did manage to release exactly one banger. Their 1993 single "Pets" is a starry-eyed alt-rock chart-topper that always sounded so cool on the radio.
There aren't too many "Pets" covers, since the song is pretty dependent on the specific vibes of the fucked-up people who made it. Today, though, we get a new version that sounds absolutely nothing like the original. Anthony Green, leader of bands like Circa Survive and L.S. Dunes, has teamed up with Sweet Pill leader Zayna Youssef to remake "Pets" as a swirling psych-pop tune that builds to a swirling, howling conclusion. If I didn't already know that it was a Porno For Pyros cover, I maybe wouldn't have guessed it. Here's what Green says about the song:
I was 12 years old when I first heard this song. I only knew about Jane’s Addiction because of my older brother, Mike, who introduced me to all the cool music I grew up on. Before I even pressed play, I remember staring at the CD artwork and thinking it had to be amazing.
I became obsessed with Perry’s voice. It blew my mind that he could make music that felt so different from Jane’s Addiction — still unmistakably his, but with a completely different groove and mood. It lived in the same creative universe while carving out its own identity, and that always stayed with me.One day, after playing "East Coast Winters," I was messing around on these two chords and found myself singing this melody. Suddenly, everything clicked into place. It felt like I was revisiting the song from a completely different point in my life, where its sentiment somehow feels just as relevant — only in an entirely new context.
Green has been singing his "Pets" cover live for a while. Last week, he kicked off his current tour in Atlantic City, and Youssef joined him for that song. Today, Green releases the cover as a 7" single, packaging it with Psychic Babble's remix of "Reconcile." Below, check out the cover and the original.
"Pets" b/w "Reconcile (Psychic Babble Remix)" is out now on Born Losers.
