When Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" exploded onto the music scene in 1995, one of the songs on the album that received a lot of attention was an unlisted track that described the rock star breaking into her ex-lover's house, crying in his shower and sleeping in his bed.
On Garbage's eponymous debut of the same year, lead vocalist Shirley Manson also talked about being a jilted lover, but on "Not My Idea" she retaliated against the man that done her wrong by burning down his house. While theater-fan Morissette may have ruled the charts, it's undeniable that Manson won the coolness competition by a landslide.
Given that the in-your-face earnestness of Morissette and Hootie and the Blowfish was the flavor du jour three years ago, the commercial and critical success of the moody and intentionally artificial Garbage must have shocked some. Luckily, the band managed to prove that slickly produced misery can be a beautiful thing.
Layering dense club beats on top of relentlessly dark guitar-based tracks, Garbage heralded the arrival of the current slew of electronically fixated bands and looked damn good doing it. Initially scoffed at by critics who were wary of the idea of three studio geeks and a singing mini-skirted babe, the first album silenced skeptics. It effectively found a common ground between the rock stadium and the dance club.
The question is whether or not Garbage is still relevant now that we have the Chemical Brothers and Prodigy. Garbage answers these questions with "Version 2.0," a sophomore effort that is as new and improved as its title suggests.
Instead of relying on the same "heavy metal meets disco" approach that worked so well on their debut, Garbage extends their repertoire to incorporate lighter, poppier sounds into about half of the songs and to roughen things up more than usual for the other half.
Like on the first record, the material here is still bleak and fun, high on attitude, low on depth. Just what makes Garbage so ticked off is never really explained, but the state-of-the-art blips and beeps sure make their depression seem fashionable. Call them Shiny, Unhappy People.
While the lack of lyrical depth on many of their songs prevents the record from being a total knockout, it's not exactly a major weakness. What prevents the songs from feeling like mere simulations of feelings is the presence of lead vocalist Shirley Manson. Her complicated persona injects the music with depth that it would never have without her.
A natural star, Manson plays the girl from the wrong side of the tracks with appealing toughness and enough sensitivity and humanity to prevent her from becoming a cartoon.
Manson sounds like she knows who her rock and roll ancestors are, and her vocal delivery resembles that of a more libidinous Chrissy Hynde. Appropriately enough, Hynde is even sampled on "Special," and she serves as one of the many reference points for the band. The lead single "Push It" borrows from both Salt-n-Pepa and the Beach Boys, and Manson's sly intonations of "Don't worry baby" will knock Brian Wilson fans for a loop.
This use of samples is more charming than gratuitous. Garbage clearly respects the bands it borrows from yet turns the original sounds on their ears, making the music their own. The songs without samples are as strong as the ones with them, proving once again what skillful sonic architects chief producer Butch Vig and his cohorts are.
The infectious nonsense chorus of "When I Grow Up" ranks among the group's best pure pop moments, and "The Trick is to Keep Breathing" feels like a sexed-up New Order song. What all the tracks have in common is that they have loads of personality, which places Garbage head and shoulders above their faceless, computer-obsessed competition.
There are even hints that the group's songwriting skills are evolving. While she's always been adept at the put-downs that she delivers in songs like "Dumb," Manson does a better job of balancing these spiteful sentiments with more complicated reflections this time around.
When she sings "You look so fine / I want to break your heart / And give you mine" on the last track, she breathes soul into the music, cutting through the attitude and rising above it. Signs like this suggest that if the band continues improving the way it has been, "Version 3.0" should be nothing short of terrific.
