Garbage are halfway through recording their fourth album at drummer/producer Butch Vig's Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. The quartet hopes to complete the follow-up to 2001's Beautiful Garbage by October and release it early next year.

"It's a lot more raw," says Vig. "There's been more live playing and a lot more ad-libbing going on. Instead of really crafting the songs, we're leaving them a lot looser. We did a little bit of it on Beautiful Garbage, but that album was very eclectic. We're hoping that this is going to have more of a coherent vibe."

The band turned its attention to the new album after wrapping up a tour with No Doubt and the Distillers last November. Vig took a short break to produce three songs on newcomer Jessy Moss's debut Street Knuckles.

Among the songs that might make the cut are "Hangin' With the Bitches," which Vig says has "sort of a Talking Heads funky groove but a lot darker and noisier." Also in the works is "Right Between the Eyes," which he says, "is more of a full-on rock song that we're pretty chuffed with."

COLIN DEVENISH
(June 26, 2003)