Alabama isn't just about football and leprechauns, there's some rock there too.

among my list of albums that you should own but probably don't is from a little known and unheralded band from the great state of Alabama called Verbena. they were best remembered (or forgotten) as that band Dave Grohl produced and tried to make sound like Nirvana, which is about what he got.

i discovered Verbena sometime around 1998 when i was fully into the whole hardcore scene and had largely forgotten about my grunge rock roots. well luckily for me my kid brother read about this band in an issue of guitar world. Verbena was described as a southern rock Nirvana...and being that Nirvana was and always will be my favorite band of all time we both decided to check out whatever record of theirs we could find. the album we discovered was 1997’s Souls For Sale.

Souls For Sale was everything i wanted out of a rock record that i wasn’t getting from the emo/hardcore albums that were dominating my cd player in 1997-98. it was a raw riffs and rough vocals with a wonderful southern twang. the best way to describe the record was a perfect combination of Bleach era Nirvana trying their best to sound like Sticky Fingers era Rolling Stones. opener "hot blood" and track #5 "the desert" shred, while moody "junk for fashion" and the wild horses-like "the song that ended your career" showed that the band could write a good sad song as well. the guitar work on the album is phenomenal. and the lyrics are great. every song is catchy and memorable and makes you wanna drink a bottle of whiskey and forget that girl who broke your fucking heart back in 1996. it really is one of the hidden gems of the late 90s’ alternative/indie rock scene and if they’d put this album out in 2001 they’d have been huge stars with the Strokes, White Stripes, Hives, etc.... instead they got lost in the shuffle of late 90s Nu-Metal/rap rock/fake grunge Creed-like schlock. which is to say they never had a chance. if you love the sound of a cranked to 11 rock band playing bluesy heavy and catchy as hell rock this is the album you’ve been missing out on. i highly recommend.

here's a video for their best song Baby Got Shot from their equally awesome follow up record, Into The Pink...aka the one Dave Grohl recorded (go ahead and buy that one too).


a shameless reminder for any of my regular readers who've got time on their hands and a love of music...i just started another blog, Ghetto Blasters & Switchblades, and i'm looking for contributors...and more importantly, readers.