Electro-pop quartet Garbage wear their influences prominently on their sleeves

throughout the band's upcoming sophomore album, Version 2.0 (May

12), a 47-minute electronic trip through the band's musical heroes and an

update of the signature sound of its smash self-titled 1995 debut.

Referencing everyone from '80s one-hit wonder Romeo Void to the legendary

Beach Boys, new-wave punkers the Pretenders and modern-day ambient-rock

act Portishead, the 12-track Version 2.0 is one of the most eagerly

awaited second albums in recent memory. The growth of the group is evident in

lead singer Shirley Manson's more nuanced vocal style, which shifts from the

funky electronica kiss-off of the album opener "Temptation Waits" to the almost

torch song "The Trick is To Keep Breathing."

Based on what he has heard about the CD, fans such as 50-year-old Sam

Husselman, who runs the Garbage Pail unofficial fan site, are already predicting

great things.

"Although I have not heard Version 2.0 yet," Husselman wrote in an e-

mail, "I expect it to be better than their first album. The band has had time to gel

and I think they are going to expand on that."

In particular, Husselman also

praised the group's new single,

HREF="http://www.addict.com/music/Garbage/Push_It.ram">"Push It"

(RealAudio excerpt), for demonstrating the band's musical maturity from its

debut, which sold 1.8 million copies in the U.S., according to SoundScan.

The single has thus far sold well at a Tower Records in Chicago's Lincoln Park,

with rock buyer Mark Anthony reporting that 24 of his 120 copies went out the

door between Tuesday and Friday. Seattle alternative-rock station programmer

Phil Manning of KNDD-FM (107.7) said the tune leapt almost immediately into

heavy rotation of 40 or more spins a week with strong audience requests.

Neither of which is surprising, given that fans such as 19-year-old Ryan

Hoadley of Las Vegas bought the single on the day it was released. "So far,

from what I've heard from the songs on the single, it's living up to the previous

album," the webmaster of the "Trash, Trash, Trash" unofficial Garbage site wrote

in an e-mail.

The group spent more than a year compiling the tracks for the album, which,

unlike its debut -- for which Manson contributed vocals after a significant portion

of the music was already recorded -- was created by all four members.

Track-by-track look at the songs:

"Temptation Waits" -- Over wavering keyboards, Manson lays down

sultry come-hither vocals amidst the band's by-now-familiar propulsive dance-

track drums, opening with the cheek-smacking line "I'll tell you something/ I am

a wolf, but I like to wear sheep's clothing." With keyboards that sound like

metallic bugs buzzing around and a tambourine-shake drum lick, the track is

interrupted at several points by short bursts of circa mid-'80s guitar. "Be careful

what you're wishing," Manson sings. "I like to keep you guessing."

"I Think I'm Paranoid" -- Another classic Manson mind game. This

one opens with icy keyboards and segues into the lyrics, "You can look but you can't touch/ I don't think I like you much/ Heaven knows what a girl can do." Before the big rock guitars burst in, Manson comes off like a chanteuse, bursting out of her sultry character to growl, "I think I'm paranoid and complicated/ I think I'm paranoid, manipulated." Make what you will of this line: "I fall down just to give you a thrill/ Prop me up with another pill."

"When I Grow Up" -- Continuing the theme of an unbalanced mental state, Manson sings, "When I grow up I'll be stable." More typically propulsive Garbage drums and

walls of guitars with a mindless "ba, ba, ba, ba" chorus. This '90s disco track also finds Manson playing with her favorite subject, sexual politics, with the lines

"Cut my tongue out/ Happy hours/ Golden showers/ On a cruise to freak you out." The break-down in the middle features Manson singing practically alone. The song ends with the sound of a needle scratching a record.

"Medication" -- This track opens like a standard rock ballad with gentry

strummed guitars, suddenly bursting into an electro symphony with rolling

violins and heartbeat drums.

"Special" -- A take on the Pretenders' hit "Talk of the Town," as re-

engineered for the '90s. "I have run you down/ Into the ground/ Spread disease

about you all over town," Manson sings over an almost '50s doo-wop chorus of

her own devising with an urgency in her voice that breaks mid-song into an

almost angelic, multi-tracked chorus that comes across as Manson's statement of strength and personal conviction.

"Hammering In My Head" -- Piled high with zapping, whining guitars

and an aggressive, Big Beat electronica feel, this song is the most dance-floor-

ready track on the album. The twittering beats and funhouse guitars, mixed with

Manson's diva lyrics such as "Like an animal/ You're moving over me ... I knew

you were mine for the taking/ Your eyes light up when I walk in the room," make

for a sweaty, high bpm romp.

"Push It" -- A classic, frantic and infectious electro Garbage track with an explosion of

processed guitars and mechanical beats. "I was angry when I met you/ Think I'm

angry still," Manson sings. The interpolation of the Beach

Boys "Don't Worry Baby" for the chorus is simply brilliant. Already a hit on the modern rock stations playing it.

"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" -- Mellow, trip-hoppy with lush,

orchestrated sections and a rumbling, walking bassline. Contrary to her

cover-girl reputation, Manson sings that she's "not the kind of girl

who likes to tell the world" how she feels about herself. The track includes some

subtle scratching, as well as sawing violins and odd electronic sound

interruptions. A caustic love song.

"Dumb" -- A straight-ahead Garbage techno-rock track with icy drums

and siren-sounding guitars and keyboards. An exploration of Manson's slippery

public persona in which she sings, "Stop analyzing my behavior/ If you're too

dumb to work it out/ A masochistic lamb to slaughter/ Maybe you missed the

point."

"Sleep Together" -- One of the most musically inventive tracks on the

album, this one opens with some dub-like, blown-out-speaker drum sounds,

quickly segueing into a driving electronica beat. The chorus features an

interpolation of the Romeo Void hit "Never Say Never," with Manson cooing "If

we sleep together/ Will you like me better/ If we come together/ We'll go down

forever." A mix of futuristic spy music and pure sex appeal.

"Wicked Ways" -- Similar to the first album's "Not My Idea," this jazzy,

swaggering number has a Stray Cat strut feel to it, augmented, of course, by some

hammering electro drums.

"You Look So Fine" -- This gentle, swelling ballad is a strong, serene

anti-love song in which Manson finally drops her tough-girl facade, if only for a

moment, and moans, "You look so fine/ I want to break your heart and give you

mine." An electronic Motown-style ballad with the unforgettable line "I won't fake it like the other girls that you used to know."