The Verlaines

The Verlaines are a New Zealand rock band from Dunedin. Formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr, the band went through multiple line-ups.

The Verlaines
OriginDunedin, New Zealand
GenresPost-punk, Dunedin sound
Years active1981–present
MembersGraeme Downes
Tom Healy
Darren Stedman
Stephen Small
Rob Burns
Past membersCraig Easton
Philip Higham
Anita Pillai
Jane Dodd
Greg Kerr
Alan Haig
Caroline Easther
Robbie Yeats
Mike Stoodley
Paul Winders
Gregg Cairns
Russell Fleming
Stephen Cournane

History

The band was named after French poet Paul Verlaine—not, as is occasionally suggested, Tom Verlaine, who also took his stage name from the poet. "I had just been reading some of his poetry," Downes told Paul A. Harris in 1993, "and threw the name at the head of the row, and we thought it sounded cool."[1] Their recorded debut was on the seminal Dunedin Double EP, which was released by Flying Nun Records and was the debut of several bands who would go on to be central to the mythology of the Dunedin sound.

The Verlaines are noted for their angular, "difficult" song structures, wordy and downbeat lyrics, unusual subject matter, all contained in often frantic up-tempo playing. The Verlaines are led by songwriter and vocalist/guitarist Graeme Downes, although many other New Zealand musicians played guitar, bass, drums and brass instruments during the different stages of the band. Downes was an academic at the University of Otago, where he had previously been the head of the Department of Music, until 2020 when he retired after a cancer diagnosis.[2] He taught contemporary music and has research interests in Mahler and Shostakovich. He has released one solo album, Hammers and Anvils, which came out on Matador Records in 2001.

The group's signature songs include "Death and the Maiden", "C.D. Jimmy Jazz & Me", "Bird-dog" and "Ballad of Harry Noryb."

In 2003, a career retrospective, You're Just Too Obscure for Me, was released.

The Verlaines contributed the soundtrack to the film Eden, collaborating with actor Adetokunbo Adu, and screenwriter Rebecca Tansley. A song from Eden, What Sound is This? appeared on their album Untimely Meditations in 2012.

The band's latest studio album, Dunedin Spleen, was released exclusively via digital download in 2019. One year later, having been picked up by Schoolkids Records, an independent label out of North Carolina, it was released as a limited edition white vinyl, gatefold 2xLP on 24 October 2020 to coincide with Record Store Day. There were only 700 copies made available worldwide. On 4 June 2021, the album made its debut on compact disc for further consumption.

Discography
Date of Release Title Label Charted Certification Catalog Number
Albums
1985 Hallelujah All the Way Home Flying Nun/Homestead - - FN040 / HMS138
1987 Bird Dog Flying Nun/Homestead - - FN077 / HMS095
1989 Some Disenchanted Evening Flying Nun/Homestead - - FN129 / HMS162
1991 Ready to Fly Slash - - C30718
1993 Way Out Where Slash - - D31032
1996 Over the Moon Columbia - - 486880.2
2007 Pot Boiler Flying Nun - - FNCD501
2009 Corporate Moronic Dunedinmusic.com - -
2012 Untimely Meditations Flying Nun - - FNCD524

2020

 Dunedin Spleen Schoolkids Records - - SMR-060
Compilations
1987 Juvenilia Flying Nun - - FN COMP 02
2003 You're Just Too Obscure for Me Flying Nun - - FNCD476
EPs
1981 Dunedin Double[3] Flying Nun - - FN DUN1
1983 10 O'Clock in the Afternoon Flying Nun 23 - FN022

The group have appeared on several compilations over the years in New Zealand and overseas.

Singles
Year Single Album NZ Singles Chart Certification
1983 "Death and the Maiden" - -
1985 "Doomsday" 37 -
1990 "The Funniest Thing" Some Disenchanted Evening - -

Notes
  1. Paul A. Harris, "The Verlaines: From New Zealand with Songs of Doom" St Louis Post-Dispatch 21 October 1993 p. 49
  2. "'It is what it is': Downes philosophical about diagnosis". Otago Daily Times.
  3. with The Chills, Sneaky Feelings, and The Stones
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