Automatic Systematic Habit - First things first, you are Garbage. You blazed a trail in the 90's by, not so much creating the hot-female-fronted-dark-pop-rock-band-with-some-electronics-thrown-in-there, but certainly by perfecting it and carving a niche for yourselves in pop culture.
You are not Britney Spears or Madonna or some other shitty/bland product that needs autotune and nastee hott tekno beatz to get people's attention...as you've done with "Automatic Systematic Habit".
You're better than that.
Now that we've agreed on that, we can focus on the fact that it is a very brave song. For this to be the first track on their first album in seven years is very courageous. It's shows evolution of sound and concept and that is always exciting to see.
Just wish the song was better.
Big Bright World - Ah, here we are. I'm beginning to understand why everyone who heard this album said it sounded like the first one: because it's great. This is the kind of track that made Garbage stand out, that grabbed the mainstream's attention. It's not dark and smoky and sexy like some of their other stuff, it's bright and open and hopeful, which is just as welcomed as the former. Love the sound of this. I want to see someone set footage of Doctor Who to this song.
Blood For Poppies - A bit radio-y for my taste; not bad, just a bit...soft, I suppose. There is some new ground tread on here which is always nice.
Control - Harmonica is a bit weird... Something about it reminds me of the feel of Use Your Illusion II. Interesting, but not really great. Oh and that singing-into-a-fan vocal effect towards the end...yikes.
Not Your Kind Of People - Starts off kind of weak. Remains weak. On the whole a pretty forgettable song. I thought this would be a lot more aggressive and confrontational based on its title. But it's more sad and proud; a low energy anthem for outsiders. A lot of this album seems dedicated to said outsiders.
Felt - This feels like a b-side. A really good b-side. Not bad at all, just a bit incomplete maybe. Love the guitar and chords. Shirley's...yodeling at the end is an odd choice...
I Hate Love - Excellent, rock-solid 90's Garbage. Total call back to what made them great. I hope this is the next single. At times it has the feel of (another) Bond theme. And the ending? "And then your love dies"? Dark.
Sugar - Really dig this one. Don't know if anything Shirley Manson does could ever be as sensual as "Supervixen", but this comes in a close second (or third if you count "#1 Crush"). Her sultry little husk is still intact after seven years of disuse. Or, to put all this into one word: rowr. Although, much like with Lykke Li, I have trouble believing that either of these talented, gorgeous, artistic women really has problems finding men to love them.
Battle In Me - Very strong, very forceful track. I really enjoy the guitar/drum breakdown at the chorus. Not sure why this was the first UK single and America got the far less interesting "Blood For Poppies". Then again, all these record companies are reaching senility and making less sense, so...I guess that explains it? Either way: great song.
Man On A Wire - Kind of sounds like Peaches. This brings up an interesting aspect of Garbage's music. More often than not, it isn't good Garbage songs versus bad Garbage songs, it's super catchy and well written radio playable Garbage songs versus skippable Garbage songs. I can't really think of an out and out bad Garbage song, just a bunch that I'd rather not listen to in favor of a different, better Garbage song. The delineation is clearest, I feel, on their second album Version 2.0. There are two types of songs on that album: the radio singles and those that are not radio singles. The former just have that perfect mix of hooks and melody and everything else that makes a song great and super replayable, and the latter just feels a bit...wrong. It isn't really something I can point out, just this abstract feeling of "these are better than those". All this to say: "Man On A Wire" is skippable. For me at least.
Beloved Freak - A disclaimer: I'm a huge Eels fan, and, as the title reminds me of "Beautiful Freak", the two songs will always be compared in my mind and the Garbage song will always be found lacking. Sorry guys. Also, I don't really like the song a whole lot. It's too smaltzy and saccharine. "You're not alone, you're great, you're special, let your light shine...". It all just sounds like a grade school teacher consoling a kid that all the other kids are calling a weirdo because he like Magic cards instead of baseball cards or plays D&D or wears a cape or something. Honestly, I blame my own cynicism. It's a sweet, warm, encouraging song and my sensibilities just don't lie that way...even though a own a cape.
Overall, this album shows that Garbage is still capable of evolution. Maybe not lyrically so much, but sonically. Most of the music on this album has so much going on under the drums, bass, guitar and vocals that it makes listening with headphones and listening on speakers two very different experiences, both rich and highly enjoyable.
I'm very interested in hearing the other eleven or so songs the band wrote and recorded for the album, as they're known for having some really excellent b-sides out there, many of them better than some album cuts, in my opinion. I don't think I'll consider Not Your Kind Of People truly complete until the other half has been released and can be fit in and around this first half. In any case, Garbage is certainly back and, hopefully, able to step right back into where they were almost ten years ago.
Oh, and also, Butch Vig is fucking awesome.
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