‘Garbage’ by Garbage

As I continue to work through my collection, occasionally, I throw up a record I can’t quite explain. I’m not entirely sure why this is an album I own – I certainly didn’t own it on its release, so it must have been something I picked up at a later date, presumably in some sort of offer. It’s also not an album I’m especially familiar with, barring the more obvious big hits.

Still, having said all that, I’ve let this album play on rotation for the best part of a week, and I’ve been enjoying it quite a lot. I think you have to adjust your mindset slightly to get the most out of it – it’s not the cheeriest of records, and every now and again, the angsty lyrics and vaguely industrial backing tracks are a little wearing, but the album on the whole is underpinned by a good understanding of what makes good pop music. It does have strong melodies, and it is played, and sung, well. The big hits deserved their status – ‘Only Happy When It Rains’, ‘Queer’ and ‘Stupid Girl’ are particularly fine, but there are other good moments as well – ‘Supervixen’ is a strong opening, ‘Fix Me Now’ is good, ‘Milk’ is a well-crafted ending. It doesn’t all lodge in the memory so strongly – even after repeated listenings, I remain a bit vague about quite a lot of the record, but none of it stands out as bad. So, all in all, pretty enjoyable.