freakboy muses music: GARBAGE - NO GODS NO MASTERS

 Perry Como is dead.

The B-52’s haven’t released an album of new music in over a decade.

Ok yeah, sure, I purchased the CD of Julie Brown’s GODDESS IN PROGRESS, which included a handful of new-to-me tracks, but that wasn’t enough.

I craved a wholly new album from an old favorite. 

Then out of the neon pink cotton candy sky, like an angry alterna-rock-punk fairy godmother, Shirley Manson and her men rained shredded valentines, stapled with bloodied thorns and coated with succulent piss and vinegar upon the world.  I stood with my mouth open wide as the golden crimson shower of NO GODS NO MASTERS seeped through the cracks in my mindskin..  

Shirley and company pop a few coins into the arcade and take perfect aim at THE MEN WHO RULE THE WORLD and how they’ve left us in a mess.

They then look inward in a self-doubt double feature anthem.  THE CREEPS, with its alternative-rockabilly sound declares emphatically...”I cannot let my feelings to keep hijacking my brain”...even though you’ll probably choke in the end.  UNCOMFORTABLY ME is a relatable ballad for anyone who has wasted time hating oneself.  I think UNCOMFORTABLY ME makes a great prequel song to BELOVED FREAK from NOT YOUR KIND OF PEOPLE.

I have never heard a song quite like WOLVES.  It’s like a break-up song from the horrible ex you are way better off without.  Even in the end the jerk is manipulating and lying... “No one can say that I didn’t need you...that I didn’t want you...that I didn’t love you.” 

For part of the album title being called NO GODS, there is a lot of God popping up.  WAITING FOR GOD is a serious cry for hope in a hopeless world.  GODHEAD is a feminist manifesto for the 21st Century woman, with wonderfully direct lyrics.  “Would you deceive me...if I had a dick?” 

“Love is pain...” is the lesson learned in ANONYMOUS XXX, a sultry sounding exploration of the fantasy of online encounters and maybe some real life ones, too.

A WOMAN DESTROYED is a look at a woman on a steady path of revenge.  It’s like the woman of VOW, from their self-titled debut album, has matured, becoming more methodical and dangerous.  You can imagine the dust on her boots as she tracks her target with a western vigilante vibe.  On the flip side is FLIPPING THE BIRD.  A woman, with an emotionally abusive sugar daddy finds little ways to assert her independence instead of finding self-respect by leaving.  Easily the weakest track, but hopefully my interpretation is wrong.

I must say that if my 20-something self had heard the title track NO GODS NO MASTERS, he would’ve  embraced it as an anthem celebrating independence, no matter if he ended up making more mistakes.  Untethered from those who tried to pin their rigid expectations upon him, 20-something me would’ve loudly sang the lyrics in the shower.  “The future is mine just the same.  No master or gods to obey.”  Honestly, my current day self may do the same.

As usual, GARBAGE ends an album on a somber note with THE CITY WILL KILL YOU.  Well, that is if you don’t count the 8 previously released bonus tracks.  They were released as singles over the years and I’m thrilled they are included here, especially since I never purchased them Individually.  

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed NO GODS NO MASTERS.  It made me feel cold, anxious and eager, while putting a wicked grin on my lips.  What more can one of the queerest of the queer ask of their angry alterna-rock-punk fairy godmother?

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words.

Freak Out, 

JLH 

P.S.  My other GARBAGE post...

https://freakboyzone.blogspot.com/2016/03/only-happy-when-its-1995.html

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June’s Collective Eye interview is still open...

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https://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-collective-eye-june-2021.html