This is another one that took too long. I sort of took my time with it, sort of didn’t. It just mostly happened, if that makes sense.

The editing process was easy, though I got to a point where I realsied it wasn’t that good of a bit of writing, but it was better to publish it and move on. Realistically it would’ve been better to not publish at all, but I wanted it out of the way. I think what I said is fine, but I also think it could’ve been said much better.

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Regurgitator no longer exist as part of the zeitgeist and they haven’t for a while. But when their now was now and not then, they seemed concerned that they were part of it rather than being part of it. Since that time they’ve had a good deal of breathing space. Their career has been lengthy and seen various forms of success, but once you get a few decades along your musical path, what do you do? How do you keep going without burning out? Perhaps for Regurgitator it doesn’t matter so long as what they feel they’re doing is good enough.

So INVADER starts with “Cocaine Runaway”, seemingly an ode to a prior era used to form a foundation for the new. It’s synthy; it’s pushing forward. It has sax.  Then the album gets more punky with “Pest”, then pop with “This is not a Pop Song”, then more punk, then hip-hop, then some “rock”, then something more new wave-ish… and it continues on touching on various sounds and styles. There’s a through-line in terms of sound and “style” here, where a good number of songs sound a bit dirtier than usual and others are really crisp and clean, yet everything sounds familiar enough to each other. Essentially the album holds this variability but it remains cohesive. It sounds like Regurgitator in the way that Regurgitator sound like Regurgitator.

As such, the songs also feel pretty fun, though often the lyrics carry a lot of weight and seem more direct than on past releases. However, it’s clear that Regurgitator don’t want to necessarily smack you in the face; they rather you listen and join the party. There’s serious subject matter throughout the album, and there’s optimism too.

That said, “The Bastard Poem No One Wanted” (orated by poem’s writer, Tyson Yunkaporta) goes in a different direction to the rest of the album. It’s an intense bit of work, fantastically delivered and with the right kind of backing instrumentation too. It’s a bit of a sudden shift, but it sits in the right spot to be at its most effective.

INVADER’s other guests also put in solid work. Peaches appearing to do Peaches things works nicely in keeping “…Pop Song” flowing; JK47’s feature on “Dirty Old Men” gives a needed breadth and further meaning to a piece that would risk monotony without him. It’d be easy to have guests for the sake of having guests, but both their and Tyson’s appearances feel warranted. Their appearances hold focus, and are long enough to get something across without either feeling rushed or meandering.

When I first listened to INVADER, it felt like just another Regurgitator album. From the second listen onward, the songs revealed more of themselves, and the album’s overall strengths started coming forward. Closer “Tsunami” has a sadness balanced by the melody, but that likely won’t come through if only heard once. The lo-fi “Pee Pee Man” starts making more sense within the context of being between “Dirty Old Men” and “Wrong People” over repeat listens. Sure, the songs work well enough on their own, but they work as well in the context of the whole album.

Regurgitator haven’t necessarily released a bad album, but some have been weaker than others. There was a good stretch where, their music seemed more about having fun. That’s fine, but it felt like their desire to discuss their concerns took a backseat. Furthermore, the energy and enthusiasm was still there, but it didn’t feel utilised to the fullest extent. On INVADER they’re still having fun, but Regurgitator are striking out with a fuller passion. Not all the songs express the group’s concerns, but they are being much more incisive without sacrificing enjoyment.

INVADER is available here.