Regurgitator
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:Regurgitator.jpg Regurgitator is an Australian rock band from Brisbane consisting of lead singer/guitarist Quan Yeomans, bassist Ben Ely and drummer Peter Kostic. A blend of rock and electronica, they captured a devout following and have been credited for invigorating the Australian indie pop scene in 1996 with their debut album titled Tu Plang. Regurgitator have undergone several changes in musical direction over the years, which have not always been popular with some fans.
The band are popular for their 3D animated videos which were created by Quan and his longtime partner (now ex-partner), Janet English (bassist and vocalist of Spiderbait) Quan and Janet originally worked together under the name of "The Shits" but were forced to change the name to "Happyland" on the release of their first album.
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Brief history
Regurgitator were originally a 3 piece indie rock band with Quan Yeomans (guitar and vocals), Ben Ely (bass and vocals) and Martin Lee (drums). The three had met on a bus in inner Brisbane. At this time, all three were already in several bands, some containing future members of The Resin Dogs and George. Regurgitator, at this time were not considered to be the main focus of any members, and were recognised only when Ely provided Paul Curtis of Consume Management a demo for one of his other bands, Pangaea. The flipside to the Pangaea demo contained tracks put down with Yeomans and Lee as Regurgitator. The release of their first self-titled EP led to a stirring of the Brisbane music scene that was well and truly interested by the time of the release of their second EP, "New", which spawned the radio hits "Track 1" and "Blubber Boy". After smash hit success from their rock and hip hop infused debut Tu-plang which featured the tracks "I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am", "Kong Foo Sing" and "F.S.O", the band moved on with a more electronic and pop based sound on their second effort Unit. Surprisingly, the first single "Everyday Formula", the only song to contain the usual formula of distorted guitars and fast drumming, made a lack luster performance compared with the following pop and keyboard style of the following singles, which were instant hits. During the tour for Unit, Shane Rudken was added to the band on keyboards. From this album, "Polyester Girl", "!* (The Song Formerly Known As)", and "Black Bugs" all gained significant amounts of airplay. Unit is widely regarded as their finest work, although it is ritually dismissed by many fans of their first generation of work. It is also considered to be ahead of its time due to heavy 1980s referencing, well ahead of the popularisation of 1980s aesthetics which occurred post 2000.
...art, Regurgitator's third album, was the last time drummer Martin Lee appeared with the band after some creative difficulties. He was replaced by Front End Loader and Hard-Ons drummer, Peter Kostic. ...art and its follow up Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks performed very poorly on the charts and also with fans, as it appeared the albums were being recorded specifically for the commercial industry, radio and television. A harsh opposite to the original alternative and explicit Regurgitator from the mid-1990's.
Regurgitator recently participated in the Band in a Bubble project, a new reality TV-inspired media stunt sponsored and broadcast by Australian music channel, Channel V. The band entered a small glass recording studio, built in Federation Square in the centre of Melbourne, to record their new album. Pedestrians could look into most rooms of the "bubble" and could watch the band work, or tune in to a 24 hour digital cable television channel and watch their work on that. Nobody could enter or leave the bubble, a la Big Brother. In addition to the three band members, Australian producer Magoo, engineer Hugh and Channel V host Jabba were all also locked into the bubble with the band.
Currently they are out of the "bubble" and have completed their album Mish Mash. The first single was "The Drop" and the second was "My Friend Robot". In May 2005 they released the "My Ego" single, which contains three remixes created by Quan Yeomans in his new home in Hong Kong. Neither the album or the singles reached the top 40 in the Australian music charts.
Discography
Albums
- tu-plang (1996) (album title translates to "Juke box" in the Thai language)
- Unit (1997)
- ...art (1999)
- Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks (2001)
- Jingles (Regurgitator album)|Jingles (Best of) (2002)
- Mish Mash (2004)
EPs
- Regurgitator (aka Hamburger) (1994)
- New (1995)
- Crush The Losers (2000)
- #?*! (aka Pretty Girls Swear or Pillowhead) (2005)
VHS and DVDs
- Regurgitated (1996)
- Regurgitator: Live at the Brisbane Town Hall (1998)
- Jingles (Infomercials) (2002)
- Nein Nein Nein Slumber of the Beast (2003)
Music videos
- "I Like it Like That"
- "Couldn't Do It"
- "Track 1"
- "Blubber Boy"
- "Kong Foo Sing"
- "Miffy's Simplicity"
- "Everyday Formula"
- "Black Bugs"
- "Modern Life"
- "! (The Song Formerly Known As)"
- "Polyester Girl"
- "Happiness"
- "Freshmint!"
- "I Wanna Be A Nudist"
- "Crush the Losers"
- "Fat Cop"
- "Super Straight"
- "Hullabaloo"
- "C'mon"
- "Transformers Theme"
- "Bong In My Eye"
- "The Drop"
- "My Friend Robot"
Other "mini videos" exist for other album tracks as seen on "Regurgitated" and "Jingles (Infomercials)".
Chart Positions
Albums
| Year | Album | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Tu Plang | Australia Top 50 | No. 3 |
| 1997 | Unit | Australia Top 50 | No. 4 |
| 1999 | ...art | Australia Top 50 | No. 2 |
| 2001 | Eduardo & Rodriguez Wage War On T-Wrecks | Australia Top 50 | No. 7 |