Ric Menck from Chicago has had a long musical career that we won’t go too much into for this article, but he is of course most well-known as the drummer of The Velvet Crush. Over the years I have collected releases from the various groups he was in in the 80s and The Reverbs was one of them.
After having played in punk band Drats! with John Brabeck on bass – they moved on to form The Reverbs where Brabeck switched to vocals and guitar. Their sole release was a 12” called The Happy Forest, which came out in 1984 via the small Metro-America label. Somehow, it also came out in Japan on the Victor label. (Small side note: Victor later became RCA Victor in the US but due to WWII the Japanese leg became independent.)
The Reverbs’ EP was a great R.E.M.-inspired slab of powerpop perfect for college radio. Discogs also lists another release by the group but I have to assume this is incorrect.
Ric Menck then teamed up with another Chicago musician Paul Chastain (of The Nines) and the rest is history. The Reverbs were included on Captured Tracks’ compilation Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987 released in 2020.
