• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

  • DC Guides
    • DC Events
    • DC New 52
    • DC Rebirth
    • Batman Guide
    • The Sandman Universe
  • Marvel Guides
    • Marvel Events
    • Captain America Guide
    • Iron Man Guide
    • Spider-Man Guide (1963-2018)
    • Spider-Man Guide (2018-Present)
    • Thor Guide
    • X-Men Reading Order
  • Indie & Licensed Comics
    • Spawn
    • Star Wars Guide
      • Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)
      • Legends Comics (1977 – 2014)
    • Valiant Guides
  • Drag
    • Canada’s Drag Race
    • Drag Race Belgique
    • Drag Race Down Under
    • Drag Race Sverige (Sweden)
    • Drag Race France
    • Drag Race Philippines
    • Dragula
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
  • Contact!
You are here: Home / consume / Crushing On / #MusicMonday: “Blood for Poppies” – Garbage

#MusicMonday: “Blood for Poppies” – Garbage

March 26, 2012 by krisis

I love music. I have so many favorite artists that it would take a month to highlight them all, and my “five-star songs” list in iTunes can play for days without a repeat.

There is one artist that eclipses them all: Garbage.

I have never been able to explain it. Garbage flies in the face of a lot of my specific musical preferences. They don’t have the best lyrics. They are not the most creative songwriters. Shirley Manson is not always a technically strong singer. They often let sophisticated production obscure the human performances that make a song.

I don’t care. I never have. There is something about their formula – Shirley Manson plus Butch Vig, Duke Erikson, and Steve Marker – that forms the most compelling possible music for me.

That means it is a very, very big deal when they debut their first single after a nearly seven-year hiatus, interrupted by the release of just a few scant b-sides.


(Hurry up and download “Blood for Poppies” for free directly from Garbage while it is still available!)

There are many familiar facets about this song. The throbbing, undifferentiated layers of guitars and drums topped with a crisp, chiming electric. The obnoxiously fuzzy riff that at once underpins and interrupts the phrases. Shirley’s sultry, half-spoken unspooling of lyrics. An unusual bridge that interrupts and deconstructs the song, yet perfectly returns us to exactly the point where it began.

Then there is the chorus. Layered vocals as far as the ear can hear, and army of Shirley Manson in perfect, major-key harmony, obscuring all but the most rudimentary rhythms beneath her.

I love it. It screams that Garbage is still Garbage, sounding somehow the same but different. Yet, it builds that from a stingily small handful of elements that are nearly recursive, all easily referenced to past exploits. Shirley sounds fierce and comfortable, a combination of her bombshell 00s vocals and her signature 90s wratch. Yet, the lyrics are stitched-together and nearly-rapped, less of the band’s tainted love hallmark and more of catchy outliers like “When I Grow Up” or “Shut Your Mouth.”

Do the detraction mean I’ve stopped pounding this track on repeat for the past week? No. Even the worst Garbage song (which this is nowhere near) is still a song that infects my brain in a neuron-by-neuron guerrilla campaign.

Will this be the sound of Not Your Kind of People? Probably not. No single Garbage song ever communicates the full arsenal of its album – especially not the lead single. Was the dark, surging, vengeful “Vow” the most representative track of Garbage? Was the pastiche of riffs and whispered howl of “Push It” a better sample of Version 2.0 than “I Think I’m Paranoid” or “Special”? Did the gender-bending stomp of “Androgyny” adequately explain the sour pop spectacular of Beautiful Garbage? And, did the Sabbath-esque riff and sparse verses of “Why Do You Love Me” explain the stripped down, real-band sound of Bleed Like Me?

I guess that’s just one more way that Garbage stands apart from all of the other bands I love. While I struggle to dissect and define their music, with Garbage all that is an afterthought. I have an inherent trust of Garbage that no other artist I love can engender. I can’t help but dissect their songs, but for once it is beside the point. It’s not why I’m listening.

I’m listening because, over fifteen years after I first listen to the full length of their debut, they are still my favorite band on the planet.

Not Your Kind of People is out on May 15 in standard and deluxe versions (deluxe includes extra songs, and Garbage are known for the awesomeness of their B-Sides).

Filed Under: Crushing On Tagged With: Garbage

Previous Post: « What I Tweeted, 2012-03-25 Edition
Next Post: Madonna’s 12 Best Singles (according to Krisis) »

Primary Sidebar


Support Crushing Krisis on Patreon
Support CK
on Patreon


Follow me on BlueSky Follow me on Twitter Contact me Watch me on Youtube Subscribe to the CK RSS Feed

About CK

About Crushing Krisis
About My Music
About Your Author
Blog Archive
Comics Blogs Only
Contact Krisis
Terms & Conditions

Crushing Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Events Guide

Spider-Man Guide

DC Comics

  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Avengers Omnibus MappingTIME TO VOTE – 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    It's time to vote in the 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll! […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Marvels Anthology Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel Anthology Omnibus, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel Magazine & Anthology omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 My Love Silver Age Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Non-Superhero Silver Age Omnibus, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel Non-Superhero Silver Age omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Alf Marvel License Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel License Omnibus (+ Indiana Jones), Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel's License Omnibus mapping for non-Marvel IP books that don't exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 X-Files FOX Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel 20th Century FOX Omnibus (+ Indiana Jones), Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    20th Century FOX omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Darth Vader Star Wars Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel Star Wars Omnibus, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Star Wars omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Marvel Imprints Alternate Realities Demon Days Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel Imprint & Alternate Reality Omnibus, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel Imprint & Alternate Reality omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Marvel UK Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel UK Omnibus, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel UK omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Ultimate Marvel Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Ultimate Marvel Omnibus, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Ultimate Marvel omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist from its debut to the present day - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Fear Itself Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel Event Omnibus, Mapped | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel Event omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Namor Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel Solo Hero Omnibus from N to Z, Mapped – Namor, Scarlet Witch, Thanos & more! | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel Solo Heroes omnibus mapping from N to Z for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Hawkeye Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel Solo Hero Omnibus from H to M, Mapped – Hawkeye, Hercules, Ms. Marvel, & more! | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel Solo Heroes omnibus mapping from H to M for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Black Panther Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Marvel Solo Hero Omnibus from A to G, Mapped – Ant-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel & more! | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    Marvel Solo Heroes omnibus mapping from A to G for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 2025 Cable Gambit Rogue Omnibus MappingEvery Missing X-Men Solo Omnibus, Mapped – Cable, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, & more! | 13th Annual Tigereyes Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus Poll
    X-Men Solo omnibus mapping for books that don't yet exist - all options on the Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 13th Annual Secret Ballot […]

Content Copyright ©2000-2023 Krisis Productions

Crushing Krisis participates in affiliate programs including (but not limited to): Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), eBay Partner Network, and iTunes Affiliate Program. If you make a qualifying purchase through an affiliate link I may receive a commission.