The 1981 Listening Post - Urban Verbs - Early Damage

Urban Verbs - Early Damage 

#294

1981 Housekeeping

Urban Verbs

Early Damage

Genre: Urban Verbs Pt. II

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Jar My Blood

Acceleration

I was rereading my 1980 Urban Verbs review, for context, and if you just read it without the rating you would think I didn’t like it, but I actually did. And here we are with the next record by the Joy Division wannabe group and they seem to have learned a bit. Incorporating more tribal rhythms that hew closer to Talking Heads and Adam Ant. 

Wait, I just read that…the front man is Chris Frantz’s brother??! Well, that makes so much more sense now.

It gets a little too rhythmically flabby in the later parts but at least it’s somewhat hypnotic. 

About on par with their first record. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3C4uw5Shs4

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.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/urban-verbs/268055849

https://music.apple.com/us/album/urban-verbs/268055849