Tuesday, June 16, 2020

The 1980 Listening Post - Urban Verbs - Urban Verbs

Urban Verbs - Urban Verbs

#52
February 29 1980
Urban Verbs
Urban Verbs
Genre: New Wave
4 out of 5


Highlights:
Frenzy
The Only One of You
Luca Brasi






Fun Fact: Urban Verbs were slated to open for Joy Division on their ill-fated US tour. I’m not sure that would have helped.  Singing songs about how you’re not getting off at your subway stop isn’t really going to get into the psyche of American club going youth, is it? 
Each song starts off with such delicious post-rock/New Wave promise and then the lyrics kick in and, it doesn’t matter to me that Roddy Frank is a caterwauling punk nabob, what matters is that there’s no melody/yelping to match the excitement of Robert Goldstein’s guitar work. 
Aside from Green Day, I can’t recall an American band that worked so hard to sound British as Urban Verbs. 
Extra 1/2 point for having a song called “Luca Brasi” and it being so weirdly and perfectly New Wave.







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