It's not hard to figure out why hipsters of all stripes have made Destiny's Child their Top 40 guilty pleasure of choice over the last couple years. All those great harmonies and soulful, fun-filled electro-pop hits (okay, and their under-21 sex appeal) -- it was only a matter of time before some smirking rocker with a thirst for reinvention dipped into the girls' bag of tricks. Still, the Child-like electronic beats and sampled acoustic guitar line that open "Androgyny," the new single from returning goth-pop hitmakers Garbage, come as a bit of a surprise. Garbage singer Shirley Manson might share a penchant for skimpy outfits with Destiny's, but she's never been anybody's idea of a sweet young thing. And her bandmates are three middle-aged white dudes with a rock-and-roll résumé that would probably sound as foreign to Beyoncé Knowles as their Midwestern accents.

Despite the obvious differences between the two groups, Garbage share one crucial biographical detail with Destiny's Child: they first came together in the studio, not on stage. On their third and latest disc, beautifulgarbage (Interscope; out this Tuesday), the band continue to produce the kind of glitzy radio fodder that helped them stand out from the alternative-rock pack when their debut album, Garbage (Almo Sounds), appeared in '95. But the nod to commercial teen pop is extreme even for Garbage, who already "went techno" on their last disc, Version 2.0 (Almo Sounds). It was one thing for founder Butch Vig, who produced landmark albums by Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins in the early '90s, to go on an Underworld bender. But Destiny's Child?

Just as they did on Version 2.0, Vig and fellow studio rats Steve Marker and Duke Erikson pull off the unlikely transition. It's no joke, either: "Androgyny" is, beneath its glossy surface, a plain-spoken self-empowerment anthem with a typically coy Manson chorus: "Boys in the girls room/Girls in the men's room/You free your mind in your androgyny." The like-minded "Untouchable" adds a Dr. Dre-style string sample and a confrontational "uh uh uh uh" from the singer to the mix. More than anything else, Manson sounds like a grown-up version of Pink, the toughest chick in teen pop. She's always been a gutsy performer, too -- if Garbage are as serious about Top 40 as they sound, they should consider hiring Manson a bunch of dancers and leaving the rest of the band at home when they tour.

R&B-tinged dance pop may be the big story on beautifulgarbage, but it's not the only one. From its old-fashioned title to the grand orchestral swell of its chorus, "Can't Cry These Tears" looks back to Phil Spector for inspiration. It also finds Manson coming up strong on the other side of lost love, a sign that the dreary days of "Only Happy When It Rains" are long gone. The band channel "My Sharona" via Elastica's "Connection" on "Till the Day I Die," which opens with a jittery Britney-like vocal sample but derives much of its dance-rock verve from an imposing wall of guitars. Along with the album's industrial-powered opener, "Shut Your Mouth," it harks back to the group's more overtly rocking origins.

The '80s synth-pop move "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" is the disc's one real tongue-in-cheek moment. Manson flirts with androgyny again, referring alternately to the hottie in question as a girl and a boy and joining in on the chorus of catcalls at the end of the song. Her lyrics don't quite add up, but her girliest vocal turn on the album does. She used to have plenty of company as a tough rock chick who wasn't afraid to be soft; now she's like the cool older sister in a family of silly teen temptresses and angry young boys.

The Top 40 overtones on beautifulgarbage extend to the maudlin succession of ballads that clog the end of the disc. Manson reclaims her goth crown on the piano-led tearjerker "Cup of Coffee," and Vig deploys ye olde Smashing Pumpkins guitar army with style on the somber closing track, "So like a Rose." But Garbage's best attribute is their knack for complementing Manson's lyrical pathos with a healthy dose of ear candy, and that comes across better on the more energetic tracks. Fortunately, Manson seems to be in a pretty positive state of mind these days. "Believing in nothing/Makes life so boring/So let's pray for something/To feel good in the morning," she sings on the upbeat rocker "Parade." Destiny's Child couldn't have said it better.

Issue Date: September 28 - October 4, 2001