By Samantha Nwaoshai

Just when you were ready to think that Garbage is out for the count and are left as nostalgic remnants of the ’90s, they come back like a zombie that just won’t die. Their last album, Beautiful Garbage, did not do as well as their earlier works, so it is understandable why Garbage took a break. After a lengthy four-year hiatus (during which Manson divorced her husband and the band’s temporary break-up) they return to form on their latest release, Bleed Like Me. Bleed Like Me is basically Garbage revisiting the style and sound that made them famous, which is obviously a good thing.

When you heard the first single “Why Do You Love Me?” it was hard not to make the comparisons between the song and the Version 2.0 album as a whole. In fact, while listening to Bleed Like Me you find yourself comparing it to Version 2.0 and Garbage-they are all pretty similar. The only exception here is that unlike their earlier work, Bleed Like Me is more guitar and performance-driven, as opposed to being more about post-recording editing. The shift in sound focus is not a significant enough change to honestly say that “oh, the band has grown,” or “this is a completely new sound.” It’s kind of like a person who’s addicted to speed trying to catch the same buzz off of coffee.

That’s not to say that Bleed Like Me is a bad album, because it isn’t. Well, it definitely has the capability to be more commercial than Beautiful Garbage. The title track is definitely worth listening to. It is dark in subject matter (it deals with Manson’s history of self-mutilation) and sonically, the tone of the song matches it beautifully. It’s dismal enough to let you know this is not a happy song, but not so much so that you want to bury yourself. Lyrics like: “Doodle takes Dad’s scissors to her skin / And when she does relief comes setting in / While she hides the scars she’s making underneath her pretty clothes / She sings: Hey baby can you bleed like me? / C’mon baby can you bleed like me?” add to the dark tone of the song.

“Metal Heart” and “Bad Boyfriend” are also standout tracks.

Overall, Bleed Like Me is a good album. It just tries to overcompensate for the commercial failure that was Beautiful Garbage by doing what they knew worked, instead of trying to use that as the basis for exploration.