Categories
GUEST EDITOR

From The Desk Of Garbage’s Steve Marker: Being Insulted In An Acerbic Fashion By An Important British Icon

Garbage is back. And the band’s sound is the same—but different. Not Your Kind Of People (StunVolume) is the quartet’s first album since 2005, and the distance has got Garbage’s creative juices flowing in exciting ways. First single “Blood For Poppies” has the same driving drums, ripping guitars and biting lyrics as earlier LPs but a poppier hook, while “Battle In Me” is much angrier and, well, Garbage-ier. Not Your Kind Of People is a great fusion of the old and the new—and after seven years of waiting, we are pretty psyched the band is back. The quartet will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com for two weeks, but for those of you who need more Garbage, read our 20 Questions feature with Shirley Manson and Butch Vig.

Marker: The Midwestern-U.S., country-bumpkin portion of Garbage has always been very impressed by British icons. (The more worldly Scottish contingent not as much.) So when we finally got the chance to be insulted in an acerbic way by an iconic British personage, we embraced the experience wholeheartedly. Mark E. Smith from the Fall had seen us one time previously, but when he came backstage after our arena show in Manchester, he shared the following encouraging comment: “The last time I saw you perform, it was like watching paint dry. This time … was not quite so bad.” With the progress implied, and considering the source, I maintain to this day that this is the most important review we’ve ever gotten.