Two of Australia’s defining 90s alternative acts are uniting for one night only, with a special performance at Kingston City Hall in Moorabbin.
The two legendary bands are coming to Melbourne’s outer suburbs on April 8, bringing their contrasting-yet-complimentary acts to their hordes of loyal fans across the city. When bands like these play together, it’s always a festival vibe, so there’ll be food trucks and flowing bars at the expansive 985 Nepean Highway venue with acts kicking off at 6pm.
Now boasting fan-bases spread across multiple generations, Regurgitator and The Fauves entered Australia’s popular music lexicon through hits ‘! (The Song Formerly Known As)’ and ‘Dogs Are The Best People’ respectively. Both epitomised the irreverent wit that defined the era in alternative music, embodying a sense of misanthropic sarcasm that revelled in being the outsider.
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Both bands are united by moments of true lyrical genius and their unflinching desire to push musical boundaries, unrestrained by popular movements. Regurgitator, most notably, have forged a glowing reputation for challenging popular norms, whether through acerbic pop like ‘Polyester Girl’, or mind-numbing electronica, a la ‘I Like Repetitive Music’.
Never restricted by genre and unafraid to corrupt synth pop with metal influences, the ‘Gurg are the type of band that can call their lead track on their debut album ‘I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am’ and then, a quarter of a century later, release a children’s album called Regurgitator’s Pogogo Show: The Really Really Really Really Boring Album, and straight-face tell the media: “Doing a kids album really feels true to our nature.”
It really does. “When we started playing music, we were playing with really heavy intense bands and heavy lyrics,” Regurgitator bassist, Ben Ely, told us recently. “[Frontman Quan Yeomans] transposed those heavy lyrics to an early ‘90s pop guitar format. We realised the juxtaposition was quite funny; having intense sexual content and swear words in a song that sounded really happy and poppy.”
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Regurgitator launched their debut, 1996’s seminal Tu Plang, to near immediate success, following it up immediately with the even-more successful Unit. This was nearly eight years after The Fauves formed, but the Melburnians had a slower burn, only really finding their feet with Future Spa, also in 1996, which spearheaded a long-term association between the two groups. When Regurgitator toured their best-of compilation Quarter Pounder: 25 Years of Being Consumed, they did so with The Fauves as support.
Unlike Regurgitator’s constant evolution – Ely also telling us that when the band are older, maybe they’ll “start getting really vile…writing these horribly blowfly pornographic raps, who gives a fuck, let’s go crazy” – The Fauves were renowned for sticking to their guns: Australian language in an Australian accent over Seattle grunge. While they never reached the commercial heights of Regurgitator’s triple-platinum selling heyday, The Fauves went from selling less than 1000 copies per record to selling out The Corner and touring to nationally adoring crowds between ’96 and ’98. “I suppose our music really reflected who we were,” frontman Andrew Coxy Cox told us after they also celebrated their 25th anniversary. “We all grew up in the outer-suburbs and our music has always spoken of that, we’ve never tried to sing about city-centric themes like buying drugs off the streets New York, we’d be more likely to sing about playing cricket in your backyard.”
Both bands rightfully hold a special place in the hearts of their fans, many of which first passed that love down to younger siblings and now, to their children. They also both define that intrinsically Australian suburbanite upbringing, so one couldn’t have picked a greater venue.
“It should be really fun,” Yeomans told us about playing with The Fauves before their anniversary tour. “It’s more of a nostalgic trip than an innovation type thing, but it’s certainly going to be fun.”
Food trucks and bar service will kick off at 6pm on Friday 8 April, Kingston City Hall, 985 Nepean Highway, Moorabbin. Grab your tickets here: https://bit.ly/3BPjtLz
