Gee muses

Who would have believed that out of the ruins of US indie psych popsters, Tripping Daisy, a band born of a different time and place and respirited in the ‘90s, would come the all singing, all dancing, quite remarkable entity that is the currently 23-strong The Polyphonic Spree?

And who would have thought a stage full of, initially, people in robes looking a bit like a mass breakout from some nearby cathedral or church, now dressed in black army fatigues and looking like they mean business, would be both viable in the economically challenged early 21st century and last longer than it took for the initial novelty to wear off?

Well, brothers and sisters, happily there have been us believers around the place since the beginning. Now, we could get all religious here but let’s not. There are no Tom Cruises in this story. Eight years after the Spree first formed and five since its first album, The Beginning Stages Of, it is now established as one of the world’s finest live acts and is buoyed by a cult following that is strong enough to keep this massive ark afloat.

Founder, lead singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Tim DeLaughter, is baking in hometown Dallas, Texas, where the temperature is well over the old 100F (38C). “We’re frying, like little hot tomatoes. It’s a cliché but you really could fry an egg on the concrete out there,” he says.

DeLaughter is one of the smarter people I’ve come across in this business. A veteran of nearly two decades as a musician, he’s nudging into his mid-40s but his enthusiasm isn’t diminishing with age. With Tim, it’s matter of how much conversation you can fit in the time limit rather than trying to find enough conversation to get to the finishing line.
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It’s a long way to the top if you want to … and Regurgitator have. Now they don’t as much. In their halcyon days The Gurge as we fondly dubbed ‘em, sucked a lot of you know what, danced around in videos with animal suits on - Which Warner’s heavyweight executive was in one of those costumes? My lips are sealed!, made cheap keyboards a comeback novelty, veered erratically from the end of the punk rope to the top candy-smeared pop schtick. The singles and albums flowed to the top end of the charts. The Gurge were mighty. Their moments came and went. And when the fizzle and razzle and dazzle faded, they accepted the movement and passing of time with grace and just got on with what it is they do. Now Regurgitator are on an indie label and are a well-inured-in-the-psyche cult band. They will never be less than good because they are that talented. Quan Yeomans, Ben Ely, Peter Kostic and new girl Seja Vogel, take a bow. You deserve it.

Ely, a splendidly friendly Queenslander who is as well known in that State’s underground scene (he’s played in any number of side projects) as he is for his exploits in The Gurge. At home in Glebe, yes, he’s moved out of Queensland, he talks happily about some 15 years or so in and out of the spotlight.

“It’s not so intense now,” he says. “We don’t take it all as seriously as we used to, we don’t tour as often. Quan now lives in Hong Kong while Pete and I live in Sydney and Seja in Brisbane so we’re quite spread out.

“I think we appreciate it more now though because we do it less; you tend to take it for granted when it’s all you do all the time. Now we do a show in, say, Manly or Dubbo and a crowd turns-up and we tend to put a lot more into the show. It’s more of a fantastic thing. less is more when it comes to the band and music.”

The band’s sixth and most recent album, Love And Paranoia, has been dubbed by the band as it’s first romance album. Think broad definition of romance. After all, Blood & Spunk and Drinking Beer Is Awesome, aren’t exactly Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, although at the same time the allegory and associated imagery does linger in a twice removed 21st century kind of way. Anyway, it’s not a balls and all Gurge record but it is - as usual - a lot of fun and perfectly entertaining.

In a way though, Regurgitator are now in a new world. The old kids on the block. Fans who were 16 when the band first appeared are now in their 30s; others in their late 20s are into their 40s.

“Our audience has been amazing. Very dedicated. We genuinely appreciate the fact they are still coming out to see us,” Ben says. “I mean it’s like ‘Thanks for coming out and here’s a song you’ve heard 500,000 times before … ‘.” And while he jests, Ely does recognise that initially The Gurge’s timing couldn’t have been better.
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Politics and music have long gone hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, political flagwavers have sometimes come and gone with the rapidity of their beliefs. Those who tried using politics as a rallying [read ‘selling’] point for an audience rather than offering a committed, solid belief, most rightly, didn’t last. But there are many more who have proved their belief and commitment is as strong as their word. The 1960s had a plethora of acts committed to change, and in the mid- to late 1970s there was a bundle of genuinely political punk acts, but in recent times that kind of solidarity is harder to find: Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Pennywise, Billy Bragg, Henry Rollins, the old boy Neil Young, leap immediately to mind. Age after all does engender wisdom. So when a young band burns bright with an apparent commitment to change, to being outspoken – but sensibly so, to put its actions where its mouth is and raising funds for actions, then it’s time to pay attention.

Pittsburgh’s Anti-Flag may be young punks but they have old heads and they’ve been through some horrendous personal circumstances. Bassist Chris 2#’s sister and her boyfriend were murdered. Vices, the third track on the band’s new album, Bright Lights Of America, deals with that.

Lead singer, Justin Sane, is in Austin, Texas, on the end of a mobile which fades in and out and breaks up with regularity.
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