Garbage: Not Your Kind of People

Garbage: Not Your Kind of People
After producing albums like Nirvana‘s Nevermind and The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Siamese Dream, Butch Vig said he was sick of recording bands that were just guitar, bass, and drums. Excited by the prospect of sampling and electronic elements, Vig started Garbage. In their early years, the band was hailed as innovators for their combination of alt-rock, trip-hop, and electronica. But like Pauly Shore and Manic Panic hair dye, Garbage did not fair so well after the 90s. The band went on indefinite hiatus in 2005 after releasing two critically tepid albums.
Not Your Kind of People is the band’s first album since the hiatus. While the band hopes that the album fairs better critically than their last album, 2005’s Bleed Like Me, I fear it will not. Bleed Like Me was lambasted for lacking catchy hooks. Unfortunately, I can count on one hand the amount of memorable hooks. Opening track “Automatic Systematic Habit” has horrendous lyrics with the opening stanza of “lies, lies, lies, you love those lies/you tell them straight, straight to my face/they feel so right/they keep you safe.” Despite that stirring amalgam of fluff and cliches, the track’s chorus is arguably the best on the album. It is big and bombastic and the perfect arena rock pomp. The same could be said for the album’s lead single, “Blood for Poppies” which features a larger than life grunge guitar riff and catchy chorus.
Unfortunately, two good tracks are not enough to save the album. The album’s second single, “Battle in Me” encapsulates all that is wrong on the album. The track’s awkward start-stop chorus is reminiscent of “Supervixen” from the band’s debut album. Unfortunately, like most things that are a derivative of something else, “Battle in Me” pales in comparison. Its start-stop chorus is not just jarring but also annoying. The militaristic drums and loudness war-reaching levels just make it a pain to listen to.
The entire album feels like a pain to listen to. The album starts off on a pretty good foot but as it wears on, it becomes apparent that it is front loaded. After the first four songs, there is hardly a song worth listening to unless you are a diehard Garbage fan.
Rating: 3.9/10
MP3: Garbage “Automatic Systematic Habit”
Buy: iTunes or Insound! vinyl