New Album Review

By Michael Hopkins

Garbage has successfully avoided the dreaded sophomore slump. Their new CD, Version 2.0, is an edgy pop music triumph. Using a variety of modern rock formats, the band members continue to define their unique style by steeping themselves in traditional hooks, grafted onto the current trends in studio technology. Their songs spin off center just enough to set them above and apart from today's musical mainstream.

Based in Madison, Garbage enjoys the fact that their Midwestern location puts them geographically outside of the entertainment community. The band's name comes from an incident where someone heard a conglomeration of loops and samples being assembled by drummer Butch Vig (who worked on the demo tapes for Nirvana's Nevermind) and commented that it sounded like garbage. "Exactly," replied Vig, "and we're going to turn this garbage into a song."

"Dumb" and "Hammering in My Head" have distinctly electronica leanings, and "I Think I'm Paranoid" is based in a heavy guitar powerchord structure. The full-ahead upbeat "When I Grow Up" is a bit reminiscent of Cheap Trick, and the mellow love ballad "You Look So Fine" is gorgeously orchestrated.

At the front of the band is Scottish-born Shirley Manson, whose versatile vocals weave complex mixtures that are at times dreamy, sexy, psychotic and childish. With its ability to appeal to a wide variety of pop tastes, Version 2.0 will likely be the big summer commercial hit on both the radio and the dance floor.