Verböten

Today, the seminal Evanston, IL punk band Verböten, formed in 1982 by guitarist/singer Jason Narducy (Bob Mould Band, Michael Shannon, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate), singer Tracey Bradford, bassist Chris Kean, and drummer Zack Kantor, announce their first-ever album, Verböten (out October 4th), and in conjunction share the album’s lead single, “Bodily Autonomy.” Ahead of the album’s release, Verböten will play their first show since 1983 at Riot Fest in Chicago on Saturday, September 21st.

Formed by four kids ages 10 to 14, the Evanston band’s scrappy and aggressive songs made them young stalwarts of the burgeoning Chicagoland punk scene. Though they only lasted a year and a half, their legacy still endures: Dave Grohl says witnessing their band practice at his cousin, singer Tracey Bradford’s house, inspired him to start writing original songs. In 2020, a musical about the band was critically acclaimed and award winning. Now, 41 years after they disbanded, they’ve reunited to release their debut album Verböten, 12 brand-new tracks as a testament to the miraculous power of making music with your friends.

Recorded at Chicago’s Electrical Audio, Verböten is intense, efficient, and direct punk. Coming in at just under a half hour, the album is a blast front-to-back. It’s a document of four lifelong friends once again finding the freedom and joy of the music that brought them together.

Making an album served as an exercise for the band to rediscover the music of their childhood: punk and new wave. “We asked ourselves, ‘What was it that inspired us in the 80s?’,” says Narducy. “There were a lot of bands that were political, so we decided to lead this record with two highly political songs that are rip your face off, aggressive.” Lead single “Bodily Autonomy” is that pummeling dose of righteous anger. Over pounding power chords and a relentless drum beat, Bradford sings, “Imagine now / New laws on vas deferens / Does this add up? / The target is so clear.”

During their short but influential career, Verböten featured Bradford, Narducy, Kean, and Kantor. After they amicably broke up in 1983, only Narducy stayed in music. He’s an indie rock lifer who fronts the band Split Single and is the touring bassist in the Bob Mould Band and Superchunk, and touring guitarist with Sunny Day Real Estate. Despite his musical pedigree, it was Bradford, a hospice nurse, and Kean, a public school teacher, who floated the idea for a reunion. “It never even occurred to me that they would want to reunite because they hadn’t played music in four decades,” says Narducy. Instead of revisiting material Narducy wrote when he was 11 years old, the band set out to write entirely new songs.

With Kantor not interested in performing music again, he gave the band his blessing to reunite and bring on new drummer John Carroll (Muca Pazza, Paper Mice, 88 Fingers Louie). “I was as surprised as anyone that this middle school band teacher is also a phenomenal punk rock drummer,” says Narducy. “The fact that he teaches at the Evanston middle school both Chris and Zack attended while they were in Verböten made it even more special.”

“It was easy and natural to play together again,” says Kean. “It didn’t really feel like decades had passed. The new songs capture the spirit and energy of who we were then and who we are now.”Bradford agrees: “The most important part of our band besides the music, is the lifetime friendship and respect to each other. We gel seamlessly as soon as we start. It’s like time has not elapsed except Jason is a better leader, musician, and writer.”

“This is the punk rock record we always wanted to make,” says Narducy. “That’s what we wanted to do as kids—we just weren’t able to do it. This is how I imagined this band would have grown if we had stayed a band.”