Jukebox

Regurgitator - Love And Paranoia

For those not in the know, Regurgitator are an Australian rock band from Brisbane. Originally a trio and now a four-piece their latest album is their seventh release since the debut album back in 1996.

The cover looks a bit menacing and I was expecting something pretty intense and shouty from reading the track listing but it’s really not. Of course this is coming from someone who’s not at all familiar with their previous work.

To me this album is a meld of a hundred different sounds and bands that I like. I can see similarities to other works in almost every track yet it doesn’t feel like a rip off of anything. It sounds familiar and comfortable. The neatest way I can find to describe it is energetic rock with tinges of punk (track 1) and electronica (track 2) but that doesn’t do it justice at all. There isn’t much of a theme to it but it hangs together well. The vocal is the most constant element, not piercing or strained, whiny or fierce; just… well… good!

The first track on the album is the dubiously titled Blood And Spunk. It sounds much better than you may expect, reminiscent of Queens of The Stone Age in as much as it has a similar sort of rhythmic guitar. Not an exciting bass line but throbbing and hypnotic all the same. For anyone who may have been worried about the content of the album, this track will reassure you. Other artists you may be reminded of over the course of the album feature a tame Kaiser Chiefs (Drinking Beer Is Awesome!), Pulp (Romance Of The Damned) and Garbage (Magnetic). That’s just my opinion and I present it here now so that you don’t have to put up with me breaking out every few sentances to say “and this reminds me of…”

I’m going to jump straight in with my favourite track which is Destroy This Town. It’s a real stand out track with a strong chorus and an infectious rhythm. The lyrics flow exceptionally well and the bridge is a superb hook. If you haven’t had the lyrics “I’m afraid of the music, I’m afraid of the sound / I’m afraid they’ll use it to destroy this town” burnt into your brain by the end of the track then I’m not entirely sure this sort of music is for you. Another good track is Drinking Beer Is Awesome! It isn’t musically exceptional but it feels safe and familiar.

There are more excellent lyrics in Romance Of The Damned, a charming ditty about stalkers; “I knew you were mine the first time I Googled you”. A creepy idea but a very cool track indeed. Throughout the album I find the lyrics to be memorable, catchy and often inspired. I think it’s this that in part makes me like the album so much. I’m a real sucker for quirky or well fitting lyrics. My least favourite, what I term full-length, track is Magnetic. It’s got a female vocal but that’s not why I dislike it. It’s quite soft compared to most of what’s preceeded it and a bit slow. I just lacks any real oomph (and yes that’s a technical term). After the halfway point the tracks fly by, mostly because they’re filler, short tracks. Ad Spot and Sun Comes Through My Window are mere seconds long.

The final track is Armageddon Premonition; a very soft track. Lyrics are breathed quietly over gentle piano chords to a backdrop of choir-like backing vocal. It’s like the calm before the storm. Like the piece of music that would play in a film over the moment where battle has broken out and someone’s just stood in the middle of the carnage somehow not getting shot by the bullets or hit by shrapnel. An electronic beat comes in about halfway through but not in an invasive way. When it finishes it takes you a moment to realise that the album has finished.

This is amongst my favourite new discoveries this year and I shall be recommending it to friends.

“ a meld of a hundred different sounds ”

File under: Rock

Tracklist: Blood And Spunk / Drinking Beer Is Awesome! / Romance Of The Damned / Love And Paranoia / Hurricane / Destroy This Town / Psychic Dirt / Sun Comes Through My Window / (Ad Spot) / Magnetic / Michelle / Armageddon Premonition

Written by Vikki Roberts - October 2008
Read more: Albums, Rock, Regurgitator