8/10 Frederic 30th August 2018

20+ years into their career it's a wonder Garbage aren't called the chameleons of post-grunge or something like that. 6 albums under their belt now, they have completely morphed over the years with each of their album serving as eras both musically and stylistically. Some transformations were more substantial than others: 2012's Not Your Kind Of People's Frida inspired noir-rock was more accomplished than Bleed like me's punk-rock or Beautifulgarbage's urban-pop. But it was always fresh and interesting to see where Garbage could go, always on the borderline of the mainstream music, again both musically and stylistically. While they never veered to far from the noisy-alt-grunge sound set by their debut album in 1995, they somehow managed to evolve more than people might think. And like some of music’s best chameleon, such as PJ Harvey, Goldfrapp and, even, David Bowie, they have revamped their old selves along the way. 2016's Strange Little Bird proved to be thrilling and adventurous with its ambient and cinematic twist added in the Garbage formula. But as the inner sleeve techno-futurist photos echoed, the band clearly winked at their Version 2.0 era selves. And for good reason Originally released in 1998, the album was marked by the end of the century’s paranoia, isolation and uncertainties. A lexical field that could very well apply to our day and age. And now what about the songs? Well they are still relevant and very catchy. Push It, I Think I’m Paranoid haven’t lost their grip as effective, catchy singles but listening to the album again gives some freshness to deeper cuts like Hammering in my Head and The Trick is To Keep Breathing that somehow reveal much more to the ever-evolving Garbage.