'Not Your Kind of People'

Garbage was built on a simple premise -- making dark, rebellious ideas and experiences sound beautiful.

The balance was what made "Only Happy When It Rains" and "Bleed Like Me" work. Singer Shirley Manson would conjure up anger and accusations, and Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker -- all top-notch producers, as well as musicians -- would meticulously make it sound gorgeous and radio-friendly.

That skill isn't as useful now because the rock mainstream is gone, shattered into dozens of subgenres. With no center for Garbage to infiltrate, the savvy band has shifted course for "Not Your Kind of People," its first album in seven years.

They haven't abandoned their angry-pretty formula completely. The thrill ride "Automatic Systematic Habit" starts with a nod to Cream's "White Room" and zooms off into an aggressive rock-dance music hybrid of Britney Spears and Nine Inch Nails, while Manson sneers about "Lies, lies, lies." She quotes Dylan Thomas and snarls a bit to give "Big Bright World" some extra heft and keep it from spinning off into Katy Perry-pop territory. She hurls spoken-word insults in "Man on a Wire" like Chrissie Hynde to balance the insanely catchy chorus.

The change comes when Manson lets her guard down, in the defiant title track and the lovely anthem "Beloved Freak," which includes a straightforward bit of "This Little Light of Mine."

Yes, Garbage can express its warm feelings just as well as its icy ones.

Glenn Gamboa is a

Newsday staff writer.