Verbena
La Musica Negra
Label: XL
Recordings
Buzz or Hype?:
Capitol
Rating:
If you have got a penchant for street rock,
ala the 80s Hollywood variety, then you will find that you struck gold
with Verbena. Here is a band that hops on the raw rock revival and takes
you for a definite spin into yesterday when guitars were loud, the music
was rough and dirty, but all so melodic and addictive to the ears.
Verbenas formula is one part Stooges with
one part 80s street rock (Early LA Guns, Guns N Roses). While the ladder
are known for a bit more complex song structure, Verbena concentrates on
the secret ingredient to Iggys greatness; raw music with lots of energy
but still melodic as hell.
There is no more perfect demonstration
of that then on the opening track Way Out West. Heres a song that spans
the decades and still sounds fresh today, and also has all the makings
of a radio hit.
On the rest of the album they change up
things enough from track to track to give you a nice variety and the songs
are filled with enough grooves to keep your attention.
This group isnt likely to start a new
musical revolution but are definite contenders for winning over fans. Verbena
offer a nice break from the overly produced rock of today and they seem
to have a keen ear to what made rock work so well in the past and bring
it all together into one cool package.
They arent quite as good as the Vines
but are definitely worthy of attention from the same fan base.
Posted by Carry 'O:
"They aren't quite as good as the Vines"?????????? Verbena are way better than the Vines. Better, better, better and better. The Vines is just the stupid teen Craig Nichols, and he is best at writing ballads than trying to be another KurtCobain
Posted by Barbados:
This, along with each of their previous CDs, kicks hardcore ass. They blow The Vines right out of the damn water!
Posted by Deadly Fredly:
Okay. First off, Verbena has more talent in their microphone cables that the Vines. I bought and listened to the Vines "killer cd" and it was one of the worst albums i have ever listened too. That said, yes this albumn is good, very good, yet will never get the respect they deserve b/c this group is no more. My favorite band too. If you guys like this record, their previous two are dramatically better; check them out. The titles are "into the pink" and "souls for sale". ItP was their second one, produced by the dave of grohl and released by capitol, might be hard to get a hold of due to it being discontinued. "souls" was their 1st and released by Merge records. I wore out my first copy, then it got stolen, so i had to go to ebay. Good luck finding them, but if you give the effort you will be rewarded, b/c these albumns are fantastically super, i mean awesome. in my opinion, some of the greatest records ever. But, like i said, they are...were...are my favorite band.
Peace
Posted by dean:
i think the new verbena album is genius. its not just the same sound over and over again.
Posted by DVDA:
Scott Bondy fuses his sleazy guitar riffs with melodic vocals better than anyone around today. Ties with Safety in Numbers for my "Best album of the year"
Posted by the tortoise:
Verbena is so rough around the edges is will cut right into your soul.
Posted by moodminder:
This is by far the best record of 2003,along with "here comes the zoo" by local h
Posted by The_Coat:
Best cd that I've heard since the Foo Fighters second one. Great power songwriteing full of power and melody all in one. Rekindles old memories of the good old days when nirvana ruled the airwaves.
Posted by the worst:
man this band is way better than the VINES. it is way worthy of respect
Posted by Alex:
this album kicks. every song has its own style of being raw and down right brutal.
Posted by LoveLee:
i really love this CD, every track is worthy of playing loud and they're all great and different
