Image: Sunflower Sessions Photography
It was 1997 all over again at HOTA on Saturday night when Brisbane alt-rockers Regurgitator finished up their UNITS tour with a little help from Custard, Peach Fur and “the bunny”.
Ahh, Brisbane in the nineties. As a Gen X-er born in Brisvegas, running into one of the members of Regurgitator in the valley mall at 1am and drunkenly shouting “GUUUURGE!” at them – complete with obnoxious finger guns – wasn’t unusual for a Saturday night.
Most people I know in Brissie have a Regurgitator gig or encounter story. In fact, I still happily regale people with my own story about sucking up a strand of spaghetti and accidentally flicking some pasta sauce from it onto the back of the neck of a guy at the table next to me in a valley restaurant in the late nineties, only for him to stand up and be Ben Ely, having lunch with Quan and then-drummer Martin.
He didn’t even flinch or notice, so I can only imagine he touched his neck at some later point and went “wtf”. If that’s indeed the case Ben, and you’re reading this, then the Great Sauce Neck Mystery of 1998 has been solved. I’m sorry if people thought you didn’t wash properly. Mea culpa.
Godly-haired local rockers and past GCMA winners Peach Fur did a truly epic job of warming up the audience early on. Spread at first, but soon densely packed to the front, the crowd danced hynotically to the Fur’s charismatic blend of surfy psych rock, thoroughly enjoying a set of their solid original songwriting along with a fun version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall.’ Peach Fur are such a hidden gem, and I’m not sure why they aren’t mega famous yet. But on the flip side, I’m glad we still have them around. If I had one complaint about their set, it’s that I wanted them to keep playing.
Look, you’re either a Custard fan or you’re not. Unfortunately this reviewer skews towards the not. As much as I loved the general noise of the nineties, for whatever reason, I could never quite grab onto the music or songwriting of Custard (notably misrepresented for years on bills everywhere as Custaro, a nod to which you’ll see on their Insta handle).
Personally, I think the guys actually love to lean into this kind of “hey we’re just some regular dudes that like to jam and fuck around” vibe, and they do it well and with humour. Still there were enough fans around back in the day for them to play some pretty big bills, and the crowd on Saturday night certainly seemed charged to see them, with particular love given to their ’98 hit ‘Music is Crap’, which I couldn’t let pass without an ironic smirk on my dial. Still. Lovely guys, and they put on a really fun and high energy show, even for the non-fans.
The main trio of Quan Yeomans, Ben Ely and Peter Kostic hit the stage in shiny yellow boiler suits and blasted off with ‘I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am’ from ’96 album ‘Tu-Plang’, much to our delight. The forty-somethings that made up the bulk of the crowd shouted gleefully along to the ‘Gurge’s trademark repetitive, one-line choruses and jumped up and down as much as their knees would allow. It was a vibe, for sure.
The guys ran through a bunch of non-UNIT hits, including ‘Track One’, the all-time fave ‘Gurge song of yours truly (I knew it was coming when the guys dropped that D!) and Quan’s signature lyrics packed the same punch as they always have, juxtaposed beautifully against the light and silly pop instrumentals and bright, glitchy background aesthetics. No other band has ever been able to walk that line between fun and socio-politically charged in quite the same way as Regurgitator, which is probably why their content feels as fresh today as it did 25 years ago. ‘Blood and Spunk’, ‘Fat Cop’ and ‘Blubber Boy’ were definite crowd pleasers.
Regurgitator left the stage while we were treated to a video of the most spectacularly poofed-up mullet I’ve ever seen, attached to someone playing a drum solo. They then returned, decked out in tight silver jumpsuits, and launched into the ‘UNIT’ album in full, albeit shuffled, presumably just for funsies.
After getting the crowd to shout “COME ON, BUNNY!” the guys brought out casual member Shane Rudken on keytar, decked out in a rabbit suit for no particular reason. He bounced around like, well, I’m sure you can guess, and stood front and centre, amping up the crowd when Ben and Quan were busy at the mics, bringing an added and delightful touch of the absurd to the proceedings.
Listening to a ‘Gurge record is like listening to several different bands. We get some 90s synth pop, we get some Cypress Hill-esque rap, we get angsty alt-rock. Is this a Ben song, or a Quan song? As well as their deeper-than-they-seem lyrics, the guys just seem to like to keep everyone on their toes by keeping things mixed up and playful. Live, this quality has even more of an impact. And we are here for it.
We buzzed over ‘Black Bugs’, and ‘The World of Sleaze’ had everyone waving their arms in the air to the chorus:
“cos there’s dicks and cunts
and slut and butts, oh
pimps and hoes, yeah
plenty of those”
Initially I giggled at watching all these middle aged people getting such enjoyment out of such puerile lyrics, before I remembered that Quan is actually a staunch feminist, and ‘The World of Sleaze’ is an anti-sexism anthem, and I fell in love with the band all over again. Layers, man. Enjoy them at any level you like. It’s their thing.
We bopped along to ‘Polyster Girl’ before ‘! (The Song Formerly Known As)’ continued the showcase of the band’s versatility and live energy. Following a very short pause, the guys finished things off with the one-two punch of ‘I Wanna Be A Nudist’ and ‘Kong Foo Sing’. Lively, happy, quirky, punchy and tight, the show was a masterclass in everything that makes the ‘Gurge the ‘Gurge, and was nothing less than a massive success. It was for the outsiders, for the units, and especially for the Gen X-ers who remember those drunken valley days of the nineties. We love you guys, don’t ever change!