REVIEW: Verbena, Into The Pink (Capitol)
- Tracey Bleile
This band's major label debut also marks off a new production credit for Foo Fighters' mastermind Dave Grohl (who previously scored the film Touch). The end result is a snarly, wound-tight, percussion heavy power pop punk effort. Word has it that their label, Capitol was the winner in what turned out to be a battle royale to sign this Birmingham, AL trio.
Grohl's discovery of the band's Merge full-length Souls For Sale started them down the road to a shared tour in the U.S. and overseas, and when the time came for Verbena to begin Into The Pink, the mutual respect led them to working with Grohl in this capacity. The results are surprising - the harmonizing on many tracks of guitarist Scott Bondy and bassist Anne Marie Griffin is reminiscent of L.A. punk heroes X ("Baby Got Shot"), the splashy drums and feedback recall, yes, no getting around it, Nirvana ("John Beverly") and the last traces of grunge. Let there be no hue and cry of recycling - this is what you get with smart musicians and an equally smart producer.
The only drawback to this kind of album is tendency for the songs to begin to blur a bit together - the sound is highly consistent without a lot of variance. But if you dig drony and thunderous with a touch of that punk attitude (check "Submissionary" for line, chapter, and verse), you won't be sent awry here.
One of the great misleading things about this record is the gentle piano and quiet vocals of the opening track "Lovely Isn't Love" and the single guitar/voices of the closer "Big Skies, Black Rainbows". Beautiful bookends that hold up all the volumes (and volume) Into The Pink possesses in its catalog of talent.
