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Rating: Summer 1999: sitting at the beach bar's tables with my very worn-out CD player (forget about those mp3 players that fit in one hand, a hefty cube of a CD player that skips at the slightest vibration and you freak out searching with crazed eyes for who made the table move; those were the days), a friend approaches me with the classic look of "put away everything, now I'm gonna make you listen to something new!"
He approaches and goes: "Do you know these guys?"
Obviously, when someone comes up to you and asks this question, you're 90% sure you don't know them because they’ve certainly found them in some music magazine corner read by three people, including himself, his cousin, and his cousin's friend! Anyway, still hopeful (who knows, maybe it's his cousin and I don't know!), I look at the almost completely pink cover and think "oh no, The Ark!" but The Ark would spare us their presence for another year, so my next thought is not to stop at appearances alone, I read the band's name: Verbena. Imagine: someone comes to you with an almost entirely pink CD and the band is called Verbena... just one letter off, very similar moreover, from Verdena who were already starting to be on many people's lips at the time... what a prank!
No, it's not a joke. The friend throws the CD in the player, puts in Verbena, and hits play, of course taking one earbud for himself (what's the point then? I mean, you bring the CD, let me listen, right? Why do you need to take an earbud if you already know it?).
As a slow, melancholic piano and voice ballad begins, I turn the CD over in my hands... “produced by Dave Grohl” is written on the back, and I start to understand! The second song only confirms my doubts, with a vaguely Nirvana-esque attack followed by a tired and dragging voice alongside guitar, bass, and drums following the Nirvana model, while at times a female voice appears in some backing vocals (it's the bassist's voice). The CD continues without highs or lows, the sound is that of the early '90s “dirty” just enough with good pop melodies and choruses that stick in your head from the first listen.
The only comparison that comes to mind is with Silverchair of 'Freak Show', which were nothing more than a poor imitation of Nirvana practically created by a major to further exploit the grunge phenomenon after its torchbearer's death. But, and here comes that three-star rating with which many will disagree, I want to believe that Verbena is an honest band... drawn towards this sound rather than another not so much to ride the wave (after all, in '99 in the full era of Limp Bizkit and a trail of guys with red caps on their heads, there was little to exploit, even though soon the phenomenal nu-grunge would grow... oh dear) but due to their youthful listening preferences.
Ultimately, a good band, certainly good musicians with good production backing them, capable of creating good songs but lacking that touch of originality (or luck: if they had come out in the time of Puddle Of Muddle and similar, they would have won the comparison without a doubt) that would have been enough to make them remembered by many more people than a poor fool who still remembers them because they're just one letter off from Verdena.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Baby Got Shot (02:41)
i really dont care i really dont mind but my baby baby baby got shot oh hes just like the rest shes just like the rest my baby my baby my baby got shot oh when i start to sing? you make me sick to stay? guess its what you get its so bad, bad and youre getting kissed tell it to your mother guess its what you get its so bad, bad oh dont you ever wish for a kick thats long? a kick thats long? dont you ever wish grow a pair of wings a pretty pair of wings my baby my baby my baby got shot oh when i start to sing? make me sick to stay? guess its what you get its so bad bad and youre getting kissed tell it to your mother guess its what you get its so bad bad oh dont you ever wish dont you ever wish dont you ever wish for a pretty pair of wings dont you ever wish dont you ever wish dont you ever wish for a pretty pair of wings hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey my baby my baby my baby got shot my baby my baby my baby got shot my baby my baby my baby got shot my baby my baby my baby got shot oh no
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