Which Verlaines do you mean? Tom?

There really are two Verlaines because he had a twin brother.

Their real surname is Miller.

was a weird-arse French poet who had a bit of a thing for the lads wasn't he?

They're an 80s Flying Nun band. I suspect that they were named equally as much after Tom as after the French painter, seeing the band is all literary and stuff.

I think he had a thing for Rimbaud.

I can upload this if anyone wants it.

By painter I meant poet. Rimbaud and Verlaine sitting in a tree, etc.

Maybe the Verlaines should have called themselves The Millers.

But yeah, fucking incredible band and that album in particular.

verlaine verlaine verlaine verlaine verlaine verlaine verlaine verlaine verlaine ..........verlaine

I should get more into the Flying Nun stuff. I only really know the Verlaines and bits and pieces of the Bats and the Clean.

worksafe you have pretty good taste sometimes.

there's a copy of bird dog on LP on ebay here.
verlaines bird-dog LP

1 hour left. will be interested to see how much it goes for. i didn't think this record would fetch much.

there's a lot of great flying nun stuff that's just been re-issued

bollocks: i'm bidding on a CD of bird dog now actually.

flying nun have been reissuing stuff?

Great album. Slow Sad Love Song is my favourite Verlaines song.

I think "C.D., Jimmy Jazz and Me" is pretty fucking incredible. "Slow Sad Love Song" is great too...whole album really. Love the way the chords and the melody of "Makes No Difference" work.

i'm pretty sure, hang on i'll check

i loved them

anybody out of you older kids ever see them live? anybody got the graeme downes solo record? is that good?

unfortunately not, i don't want to ask my kiwi friend becuase i don't want him to say yes.

I also thought for a second when they walked out that they'd hired Mark Palfreyman from Alarum on bass. Fuck he looked like him.

I have no idea who you're talking about but people can't help who they look like - that's not really a criticism. Does the prescription have to be 'play old songs I have been listening to for thirty years/ no-one in the band must look like anyone else I have seen before'?
By saying the drummer had his work cut out for him, I'm not saying he was struggling. I thought he was excellent - it's a tough call to make that look easy.

that's not really a criticism

Ummm, it wasn't a criticism, purely an anecdote .. you know like wow, that piece of toast looks like my dishcloth.

Does the prescription have to be 'play old songs I have been listening to for thirty years

Nah.. I've only been listening to them for about 15. They can play whatever the fuck they like and I knew they would. I was hoping the new tracks would have a more interesting take live and they didn't, so be it.

it's a tough call to make that look easy.

Surely you jest.. that reminds me of every Beat Happening review.

really boring show for the most part

Well, I disagree obviously, but I also obviously know it's completely subjective. Personally, I haven't been so engaged with a night of bands in a long long time.

I always prefer when bands don't just try to please their old fans. My being turned off by the music The Verlaines played last night has nothing to do with any misplaced nostalgia. I would have disliked it just as much if it had been a brand new group playing their first gig at the Noise Bar (which this set often put me in mind of). I can dig that what The Verlaines do these days has its fans, and I approached it with an open mind. I just didn't connect with it at all.

I agree with Frankie - it was fucking awful. I had to leave after the fourth song as it was so unbelievably dire.

annandale tonight, I am looking forward

For a split second on Friday I thought 'could I fly to Sydney and see them again...?' I won't, but it would be money well spent. Inmyopinion.

Went to the Annandale show last night - very enjoyable, Graeme was in fine form

I was just looking at clips from Friday night's show on Carbie Warbie's facebook page. I wasn't mistaken, it was incredible.

I wish Robbie was still behind the kit...perhaps a Renderers tour is in order.

The Renderers have ventured a couple of times over the last few years, fucking superb shows.

Does anyone else think corporate moronic is the best album they've ever done? I haven't heard the entirety of the NZ release only one though.

That second sentence doesn't seem to make sense.
I don't think CM is their best album but it is excellent. Looking forward very much to the next one.

Sorry, I haven't heard 'Over the Moon' in its entirety. It was released in limited quantities only in NZ.

I think I like CM so much due to its eclecticism.

I haven't heard Over the Moon at all, I would certainly like to (looked for it when I was in Auckland a couple of years ago, hard to come by apparently).
CM is musically excellent but lyrically I prefer the earlier material, and Bird Dog's my favourite album.

Yeah, lyrically I'd probably agree with you.

Ready to Fly isn't so great an album, but Gloom Junky and War In My Head are definitely up there in my top 10 Verlaines tracks.

I don't know if you're in Syd or not, but did you see them when they came out a few months back?

If you missed them early this year, The Verlaines added all of my HD Videos from their Melbourne show at the East Brunswick Club (28th Jan 2011)
http://theverlaines.co.nz/video

You sir, are a gentleman.