Pitchfork

Perhaps you're unfamiliar with Birmingham, Alabama rock trio Verbena. Here's a quote from Dave Grohl to help you understand where they're coming from: "It's like a nasty, sexy Rolling Stones meets Debbie Does Dallas tuned down to a C." Grohl should know; after all, he produced the band's 1999 major-label debut, Into the Pink. (Ohhhhh! The Debbie Does Dallas reference does makes sense!)

And now, Verbena-- which includes singer/guitarist Scott Bondy, drummer Les Nuby, and bassist Nick Daviston-- are back with their second offering on behemoth Capitol Records. Entitled La Musica Negra, the record is set for a May 6th release. Produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, The Vines, Guided by Voices), La Musica Negra will exhibit that which Verbena does best: feral punk blues in the "haunted Delta tradition" (Burke, we're assuming).

Verbena's online corps apparently aren't the best at ferreting out advance information. Either that, or Capitol Records is guarding the tracklist like it's the fucking launch codes for our nation's nuclear arsenal. But our crack staff here at Pitchfork have been able to scrounge up a few titles for you, if you absolutely must know now: "Way Out West", "It's Alright, It's OK (Jesus Told Me So)", "I, Pistol", "All the Saints", and "Camellia". There are eight other tracks that have yet to reveal themselves to civilians, but with any luck, the band will test-drive some of them on their mini-tour, which is already underway. And by underway we mean, almost over. Remaining tour dates:

01-31 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
02-01 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
02-02 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
02-03 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar

Also, for good measure, they'll be sharing the stage with Roddy Woomble and the rest of Idlewild at the South by Southwest Festival on March 14th at Antone's.