Album review by Bec Harbour
Regurgitator came out of the gates strong for the lead single on their new album Invaderwith ‘This is not a Pop Song’ featuring Peaches and had a strong follow up with ‘Cocaine Runaway’ with it’s kitsch 80’s flavour video and then threw ‘Epic’ at us.
Regurgitator’s fans very much took to heart ‘I like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff’ and the nostalgia around their first two releases Tu Plang and Unit is undeniable – the recent UNITS25 tour celebrating the release anniversary was incredibly well attended. The intervening albums have moments of sheer brilliance, but there is also some just ok stuff in there too.
Enter INVADER. My first thoughts on having a listen through is this is great. After a couple more listen throughs, it seems like the writing team of Quan Yeomans and Ben Ely have got their mojo back and then some.
Invader opens with the 80’s synth-wave tribute ‘Cocaine Runaway’ complete with a sax solo and harmonies that would have made any 80’s synth-wave band a little jealous. This on comes with a video that you should check out, it guest stars Pseudo Echo front man Brian Canham, returned to all his 80’s glory as the protagonist – check it out here.
As usual with any Regurgitator album, they are going to immediately switch genres on you, and this is one of my favourite tracks on Invader (please release it as a single) ‘Pest’. Its fast, punk influenced (likely more The Damned than Sex Pistols) and if you listen to those lyrics, it vacillates between describing someone as a pest and being one.
Next up is the lead single ‘This is not a Pop Song’ featuring Peaches and we are whisked back to the synths that did pop in briefly on ‘Pest’. With Peaches staccato ‘rap’ and the “bang bang bang” refrain, this song is a lot of fun.
‘Australiyeah’ goes back to the more guitar driven sound, starting off with a phone call from an unwanted caller. The Australian Strine is strong on this one and still has synthy sneak ins during bridges in the song.
I want to pause here to say everything so far on this album has been very breakneck speed, but that’s all about to change with ‘Epic’.
The third single from the album brings together the bombastic late 90’s, early 2000’s epic hip-hop sound and Quan’s love of a bit of a rap in a song. It is very epic with programmed strings and beats and the urgent vocal delivery. And it builds and builds like all good hip-hop did during that time.
We are changing back to the synthy sound that runs through this whole album so far with a little interlude; ‘That’s Not Nermal’. Are they referring to Garfield’s hated cat friend? I guess we’ll never know.
‘Content’ is very reminiscent of the post rock sound of the noughties (like Bloc Party, Maximo Park etc). It is also one of my favourite tracks on the album and this song and ‘Pest’ are the two I want to hear live the most.
The title of this album, has very much a purpose and this album is rooted in and was written with the referendum for The Voice going on in the background. The inclusion of ‘The Bastard Poem That Nobody Wanted’ by Tyson Yunkaporta is a beautiful piece that also gives pause and its inclusion is a timely reminder that we really fucked that referendum up.
It leads into ‘Invader’ the title track with a definite a glam-rock feel – is this what happens when they tour with KISS? Whatever the inspiration, the song is a whole lot of fun and another I want to hear live.
We are back to the synths for ‘Edge of Losing It’ with of course some lyrics telling someone to get fucked or someone’s going to lose it as they are only hanging on by a string. Then we have the next collaboration with JK-47 who is beginning to make serious waves in the Australian hip-hop scene on ‘Dirty Old Men’. I have to say this one sounds a little bit like Smashmouth’s ‘Allstar’ but it’s a jolly rollicking song all the same.
The heir apparent to Unit’s ‘I Piss Alone’ is ‘Pee Pee Man’ (bodily functions are definitely not a taboo subject in the group – under the Pogogo guise Ben does a song about how it is ok to fart, but I digress). This one has an electric Dylan feel and ends before you know it.
‘Wrong People’ is that faster guitar sound and another I want to hear live, we all come into contact with the “wrong people” and once again this one is about people following each other, possibly to the wrong conclusion or to the wrong end. Regurgitator have always been a social commentary band and they are very much commenting on the way people behave in mobs.
To round up the album, we have ‘Tsunami’ – if you read the interview with Quan you’ll know that this is the first song from the album they locked in. If going out on tour with Weezer and KISS give us music like this, please get out there again. It’s a wonderful song with some elements of Bowie and that chintzy pompous rock from the late 70’s and a great way to leave us wanting more.
As usual with any Regurgitator release, it’s a ride through the minds of Messrs Ely and Yeomans. This album has been extremely thoughtfully tracked and there’s no bad bits, it’s very play through.
