“Pets” by Porno for Pyros

"Pets" was the song that made Porno for Pyros more than a rumor. It was the second single from the band's 1993 self-titled album, but "Cursed Female / Cursed Male" had only gone out to radio and in promo form, so "Pets" was really the first single anyone could walk into a shop and buy. Perry Farrell produced it and wrote it together with Peter DiStefano, Martyn LeNoble and Stephen Perkins, and Warner Bros. put it out.

It's a strange, sunny little thing, a loping, airy groove with the vocal floating on top, wry and dreamy at once, sounding like a lazy afternoon at the end of the world. There's none of the bluster you might expect from a band with that name; instead it sways and shimmers.

It went all the way to number one on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, and the video helped push it there. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris directed it, and MTV played it constantly; the pair later made the film Little Miss Sunshine. Down in Australia it came in at 33 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1993.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.