Verbena

Birmingham, Alabama outfit Verbena project open hostility through gritty, aggressive rock that echoes Nirvana, with frontman and guitarist Scott Bondy delivering vocals that lay bare his inner life. Bondy first teamed up with drummer Les Nuby and bassist Duquette Johnston while all three attended high school in the early 1990s. Singer-guitarist Ann Marie Griffin soon completed the lineup of the group then known as Shallow and split songwriting responsibilities with Bondy. After Nuby departed, original Remy Zero drummer Louis Schefano stepped in; the band changed its name to Verbena and issued the Merge EP Pilot Park. Nuby returned to the fold twelve months afterward. The full-length debut Souls for Sale drew interest from Capitol Records and from Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, who produced the major-label follow-up Into the Pink. Johnston exited in 1999, leaving Verbena a trio once more. Four additional years passed before the band resurfaced. In 2003 Nuby and Bondy enlisted bassist Nick Daviston to record their third album, La Musica Negra, for Capitol, an effort that pushed further into unadorned rock territory.