Biography
Formed Wisconsin, 1993.
Garbage are the warped techno-grunge brainchild of one-time Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins producer Brian �Butch� Vig (drums/noise/fx), in league with fellow studio tricksters Duke Erikson (guitars/keyboards) and Steve Marker (guitars/bass/samples). Owners of a successful studio, yet frustrated by their mixing-desk-bound jobs and the relative failure of previous band incarnations Spooner and Firetown, the trio searched for a vocalist and found one when they saw singer Shirley Manson fronting GOODBYE MR MACKENZIE. Impressed by Manson�s darkly humorous ad libs during an informal audition, the band welcomed her to their fold.
Despite Vig�s insistence that the band was a democracy, Garbage�s early press attention focused on the influence he had on their polished, poppy, grunge sound -- largely because rock critics were still salivating over Vig�s production on Nirvana�s NEVERMIND. Garbage�s early output also attracted collectors, as they issued a series of limited-edition singles, beginning with �Vow�, which came in a metal box. �Vow� was a dark, distorted slice of angst, nearer to the entertainingly pseudo-Goth theatrics of Nine Inch Nails and Curve than any of grunge�s most popular exponents. Nevertheless, here was a band who clearly wanted -- and warranted -- attention.
Packaged in a startling rubber sleeve, the follow-up single, �Subhuman�, was a dark, but spirited piece of Gothic grunge, plundering pop history for a sound that seemed at once alien and familiar. It was backed with another version of �Vow�, for those who missed the band�s hard-to-find original.
By the summer of 1995, Garbage were receiving support from the music press on both sides of the Atlantic, closely followed by a Top 40 entry in Britain for their third single, �Only Happy When It Rains�. Poppier and cockier than the first two releases, it seemed to cock a snook at the doom-laden merchants of rock -- �I�m riding high on a deep depression . . . pour your misery down on me�, sang Manson, while guitars bent themselves out of shape.
Expectation for Garbage�s self-titled debut album was running high, especially among UK critics desperate to escape the burgeoning Britpop scene. Its release, in early October 1995, displayed an impressively varied range, topped with angst-ridden lyrics, weird studio-induced samples, and punchy pop hooks. The collectors� market was not forgotten, either: a limited edition came in the form of six colour-coded singles, all packaged in a cardboard box.
As the band prepared for a one-off British live appearance later in the year, the radio-friendly album track �Queer� was released as a single. A comparatively ambient number, with Manson sounding seductive yet threatening, it became their first Top 20 hit in the UK, although reports of the live show in London were mixed. Abandoning the album�s techno-trickery, the band favoured a �straightforward� live rock sound, which was suiting some of their repertoire but lost some of their inimitable freshness. �Stupid Girl� crashed into the Top 10, in 1996, bringing the name and image to a wider public and becoming Garbage�s biggest hit to date. Relentless touring, followed by a round of record-company shenanigans, held up the release of any new product for some time. The logjam was finally broken by the release of VERSION 2.0 (1998; Mushroom/Alma). Stand-out tracks �When I Grow Up� and �Hammering In My head� show a willingness to move beyond the conventional boundaries of neo-Gothery and will doubtless draw more willing converts to the Church of Garbage.
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