IT’S HEADY STUFF

THE It might not change your world, but Regurgitator’s new album is a respite from the everyday, writes Kane Young

sprawling, stream-ofconsciousness “press release’’ accompanying Regurgitator’s new album, Headroxx, admits that the record “won’t be changing your world”.

But it might just provide “a self-energised in-the-moment musical respite from a life support gone critical”.

And for ’Gurge frontman Quan Yeomans, sometimes that’s enough.

“I think that’s all you can really hope for with music,” Yeomans told Pulse.

“I was constantly disappointed by the lack of feedback I got from our early records. There was some quite heavy political lyrical content in there, and of course most of it went over people’s heads, or they didn’t feel like it was appropriate to them.

“Then I met someone, maybe about a week and a half ago, who said it was songs like G7 (Dick Electro Boogie) on Tu-Plang that really opened his mind to listening to different kinds of music and thinking about the world in a different way.

“It’s really heartwarming when you hear that kind of stuff, even though it’s very rare.

“Generally, music is a respite from the everyday, and I think it’s an important psychological release. So you do serve a purpose in that regard … but I don’t think you can really hope for much more than that.”

Much of the aforementioned “heavy political lyrical content” can be found on Tu-Plang, the 1996 debut album that established the ’Gurge — Yeomans (vocals, guitar) Ben Ely (bass) and Peter Kostic (drums) — as one of Australia’s most innovative and forward-thinking acts.

Their 1997 follow-up Unit — featuring hits such as Polyester Girl, I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff and Everyday Formula — then made them big stars, going triple platinum and winning five ARIA Awards.

The prolific group members have continued to experiment and reinvent themselves ever since, as showcased on albums such as ... art, Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks, Mish Mash!, Love and Paranoia, SuperHappyFunTimesFriends and the precursor to Headroxx, 2013’s Dirty Pop Fantasy.

Set for release next week, Headroxx features the recent singles Light Me On Fire and Don’t Stress, plus tracks such as I Get The Internet, Roxx For Brains and Kostic’s Weird Kind Of Hard.

Many hark back to the electro-pop sounds of Unit, or even further back to the Blubber Boy or Kong Foo Sing- style indierock of Tu-Plang.

The funky synths of Party Looks — a song about “when you’re on a dance floor and the music is so damn loud, and some stranger comes up and tries to have a conversation with you, but you just can’t understand a word” — evoke memories of ! (The Song Formerly Known As) from Unit, while the intro to Graffiti Is Coming Alive has a definite Stranger Things vibe.

“We were definitely influenced by those types of soundtracks, for sure,” Yeomans said.

“We’re both [Giorgio] Moroder fans, and I love the Miami Vice soundtrack. One of the first records I ever got was the Ghostbusters soundtrack, so there’s all those ’80s influences embedded in our brains.”

In an interview with Pulse last year, Ely suggested Headroxx was “probably a midlife crisis — but instead of buying a Ferrari, you just pretend you’re 18 again”.

But Yeomans reckons “the last record [ Dirty Pop Fantasy] was technically our midlife crisis record”.