Before getting into that, though, it’s worth pointing out that the Vomit Pigs, as fronted by Mike Brock, bka Mite Vomit, didn’t put off the same sort of nascent hardcore feel that so many of its cohort were then working with. The Big Boys’ funk plays no part in the Vomit Pigs sound. Or Really Red. Or anyone else you can think of from that scene. At center here, there’s as much of a New York Dolls cum inept rock group as anything else. And no, there aren’t any wicked guitar solos to speak of.
Skirting the artsty side of things and embracing updated fifties rock, the Vomit Pigs weren’t futurisitic or as nihilistic as their brethren – alright, Brock’s drug intake and premature death might play into that sense of nihilism. But for the most part, these are all songs about girls and how difficult life is. And that doesn’t sound too different than Buddy Holly to me.
What the ensemble’s best known for, though, is its track entitled “Useless Eater.” Apart from having a weird sort of prophecy attached to it, the song counts as one of the better recorded tracks the Vomit Pigs ever set down. Head Vomitter, Brock, sounds even more snotty here than on other tracks. And that’s an accomplishment in and of itself. While the lyrics aren’t always intelligible, there’s got to be a bit of social commentary in there – consumerism and dumb Americans, naturally. Either way, the melodic quotient rates pretty high. But even if it didn’t, the song still rates pretty high up there.
Why “Hypo’s” titled “Hypo,” apart from the obvious drug reference, is a bit confusing. It’s actually the Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” shot through with a new wave’s sense of synthesizer. The tempo’s slowed down and if you weren’t paying attention, it’d be easy to miss the whole experience until the chorus crops up. Oddly, enough, the break even sports a bit of ska-styled guitar jerking. Good and properly varied. Not essential, but entertaining.