New Record: Garbage

Garbage: Strange Little Birds

Garbage is a major player in the Spunk Rock universe. Their 90's work produced 2 classic records at the intersection of pop-rock and electronic rock with clean production and strong vocals. Their 2012 come-back was a definitive spunk classic. I have been looking forward to this new one all year. I was expecting it to be one of the best of 2016... now I'm not so sure.  

The first track is a total skipper. I don't why you would start a record this way. Put this at the end, if you must. Tracks 2 and 3 at least sound like Garbage, but they don't really deliver anything beyond what we've heard before. Magnetized has some cool sounds and might make the 2016 playlist.

The elements of the classic Garbage sound are there, but the songs just don't quite pull it all together to shine. Several of these songs sound like outtakes from the 2001 era of "Beautiful Garbage."

Overall, I would not say this record is bad.. it's just not as good as I hoped. By average band standards, I think this record would be interesting. By Garbage standards, I'd say sub-par. If you are a big Garbage fan, I would still suggest you give it a try and see if you agree. If not, I suggest to start with their 2012 masterpiece "Not Your Kind of People."

Garbage was the last band I expected to make a record of garbage. This one may have a few tracks that will grow on me, but I don't expect to be rocking it the whole way through like I was back in 2012. Too bad.