Adam Ganderson who writes for Chips and Beer Magazine contributed this to Dangerous Minds.

Vom might be the weirdest punk band to ever exist. Made up of guitarist Phil Koehn, bassist Lisa Brenneis and rock writers Gregg Turner from Creem and “Metal” Mike Saunders, who is credited with being the first person to use the term “Heavy Metal” in a record review, the band was fronted by primary rock critic and Blue Oyster Cult lyricist Richard Meltzer.

It didn’t matter that in 1976 Blue Oyster Cult was one of the biggest heavy metal acts on the planet, by that time Meltzer claimed to be done with rock and especially rock writing, which was at that point already sagging with record label PR hacks trying to get their name “out there” in order to reap the socio economic benefits of being a music insider. Basically, what the music journalism game has become today, just on a different pay scale. 

Vom (vomit abbreviated) turned out to be the test model for Angry Samoans (minus Meltzer) and was there as punk was taking hold in Los Angeles, when it was a legitimate “thing” but not so much of a thing that it had been scooped up by corporate bozos. These guys were pranksters, not really a surprise in the case of Meltzer who would sometimes mail his garbage to addresses chosen at random from the phone book. They would drape barbed wire in front of the stage, release live crickets at shows, and at least once hit someone in the face with the mic stand. Musically, they kinda stunk. But they were also great. Nothing about this band made complete sense and it wasn’t supposed to. It was concussed. Damaged but not broken. Juvenile. All the things that once made rock ’n’ roll relevant. Vom only lasted a year, but in that time they got about as close as music can get to capturing the sound of what Meltzer once called “children throwing tinker toys at the wall.”

Below are the videos for Vom’s “Punk Mobile”, “I’m In Love With Your Mom”, “Animalistic” and the timeless classic “Electrocute Your Cock” all of which also turn up in Angry Samoans: True Documentary.
 

 
Adam Ganderson is a writer who works for Chips and Beer Magazine and has also written for Art Forum, The Austin Chronicle, The Village Voice, RVA Magazine, Style Weekly, and Fanzine.com