Bleeding Rubbish?
Shirley Manson and her hardrock companions are back with attitude. Admittedly, they’ve been somewhat elusive of late. Well, okay, they completely disappeared, but this only heightened the suspense surrounding the arrival of their long-awaited fourth album. At last Bleed Like Me is out in the world and the good news is, they are still the same.
That’s not to say that this album isn’t more mature in places than earlier releases, or more ambitious, but there has been no Radiohead-esque ‘Kid A’ shift in their sound. This no doubt will please dedicated fans of the Scottish/ American quartet. But, as is always the risk in such situations, Bleed Like Me struggles to push the bounds enough to distinguish itself from past releases.
There are certainly some outstanding tracks here, not least dynamic opener Bad Boyfriend, featuring Foo Fighter Dave Grohl on drums. This rocks from start to finish, with Manson’s sexy, come-on vocals adding that extra edge to entice the listener into the album. Latest single Why Do You Love Me provides the most frustration-filled moments, and a thrillingly tense, aggressive chorus.
The title track is outwardly pleasing – perhaps a little too much so given the provocative and sensitive subject matter – but in this case the lyrics, somewhat wayward at certain points in the album, are at their most profound. The ‘softly, softly’ vocals only highlight the grotesque nature of what is being communicated. Other tracks, such as Sex Is Not The Enemy, contrast in both musical and lyrical content: nothing more than decent rockalong tracks with no real thought required.
All in all, then, they haven’t done badly at all. Bleed like Me is a promising return from one of Britain’s older-school rock bands, retaining a unique sound but implying a desire for maturity and expansion. The juxtaposition of hard and softer rock, intense and lighter-hearted lyrics and guitarand piano-led tracks makes this an accomplishment Garbage will surely be proud of.
Yet it does still take some time for the songs to distinguish themselves, and the strong first half of the album renders the second a little flat. All the same, a fitting soundtrack to a summer party.
21st Apr 2005