* En anglais uniquement
Wearing their animosity on their sleeve, Birmingham, Alabama-based
Verbena bear more than a slight resemblance to
Nirvana with their gritty, aggressive rock and singer/guitarist
Scott Bondy's soul-bearing vocals.
Bondy began playing with
Les Nuby (drums) and
Duquette Johnston (bassist) when the three were in high school in the early '90s.
Ann Marie Griffin (singer/guitarist) joined the trio, called Shallow, and shared songwriting duties with
Bondy.
Nuby left the group and was replaced by original
Remy Zero drummer
Louis Schefano. The band renamed itself
Verbena and released the EP, Pilot Park, on Merge.
Nuby rejoined the band a year later.
Verbena's debut full-length, Souls for Sale, attracted attention from Capitol and
Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, who agreed to produce the band's major-label debut,
Into the Pink. In 1999,
Johnston left the band, making
Verbena a trio once again. It would be another four years until
Verbena would rise again. In 2003,
Nuby and
Bondy, along with bassist
Nick Daviston, resumed their schedule with Capitol for their third album,
La Musica Negra, which continued the band's move toward straight-ahead rock. ~ Tracy Frey