A review of Garbage's "Strange Little Birds"

On every Garbage album since their self-titled debut back in 1995, there's a song or two that doesn't really fit. It's maybe a bit darker or slower or more electronic or intense than the rest of the album. These are the songs I tend to gravitate towards. Their newest, Strange Little Birds, is absolutely overflowing with songs of this ilk and I think that's why it's my favorite album of theirs in years. Whereas Manson and Vig usually get all the kudos from me, this time around it's Duke Erikson's bass. It drives the whole album like no other.

"Magnetized" and "Night Drive Loneliness" are both a bit on the nose, the latter featuring Manson moaning the words "lonely" and "all alone" repeatedly, but other than these rather mild tarnishes, the rest of the album glimmers spectacularly (and consistently) with dark, troubled energy.
The opener, "Sometimes", is completely disparate from anything in their catalogue, combining soft orchestration and brutal, synthetic loops. "If I Lost You" is a perfect prequel to their sinfully, psychotically sensual "#1 Crush" and sounds like sexy Depeche Mode from their Ultra-era. The interplay of Manson's harmonies on "Blackout" (just one of three tracks clocking in at over six minutes on SLB*) is entrancing. The powerful, anthemic slow burn of "Even Though Our Love Is Doomed"** is "the throbbing heart of the entire record" and...is "Teaching Little Fingers To Play" about masturbation? "Doing it my own way / (I'm doing it, I'm doing it) / I'm changing things up / Like I'm teaching little fingers to play". If so, that's awesome. And, if not and it's about Manson taking private guitar lessons...sorry.

And I could keep going. If you tend to enjoy the radio friendly, poppy hits Garbage has put out over the past twenty years, this might not be your thing, but if you like their more shadowy, more intricate depths, then you should probably give Strange Little Birds a try.

* Don't know why, but these things matter to me.

** This and "So We Can Stay Alive" feature some of my favorite lyrics here.