You Want Me To Waltz but it Don't Feel Right---The Verlaines-Over The Moon

There was a time before New Zealand's, Flying Nun Records was sold to Mushroom records, when I would get occasional e-mails from the label. Prior to this, I would get their updated catalogs sent, where I could have purchased other NZ swag like Xpressway Cassettes. I remember getting a letter saying they found all this out-of-print stuff in some boxes, including Bill Direen albums on the South Sea Label. I didn't have a lot of money to buy very much of this. I should have known how scarce these things would be one day. I remember getting a tip from a music critic I met at the WFMU record fair about a Gordons album. I had no idea that they made a second album, but he told me to e-mail the label--they had a small stash of the second album apparently. Lucky me. He also happened to notice that a vendor there had a hand-painted copy of the Jono Lonie-Peter Jefferies album At Swim Two Birds, so it was a very lucky record show for me. Ultimately I bought a pile of cool records from him so I guess he did okay himself.

Take whatever bits of me Remain.....

But this post was about a pending album by one of my favorite bands at the time, The Verlaines. I was anticipating the new album, which was supposed to come out soon, on Sony/Columbia, after several albums on Slash. But then word was out that the label decided at the final hour not to release the album. I assumed that it was going to be released in some capacity, but I was wrong. Then I got a semi-miraculous e-mail from Flying Nun, stating that they had a few copies. The label had made thousands of copies, then decided to cut their losses, apparently. According to the folks at the Nunnery, the label was actually shredding copies of the recording. So I dug deep and paid the $30 and got myself a scarce copy of the Verlaines final album (until recently).

I was pretty dumbfounded as to why the label changed their mind about Over The Moon. No doubt there was some story behind it. Perhaps supporters of the band within the label were cut loose. I definitely know that at some point music industry insiders decided that Dunedin would not be the new Liverpool, or at least not the new lucrative scene that might penetrate the U.S. market. Other New Zealand bands were signed to American labels, and then were dropped. Such a short term relationship with the label must have been a bit of a shock to the band. When you see the song titles and the many references to falling on Over The Moon, you get an idea of the general mood at the time.

Sure, this album may not be the band's finest moment, but Over the Moon is pretty damned terrific. Perhaps a pretty dark even for Graeme Downes, but for a guy like me who has a deep appreciation for SadCore, and Big Star's Third, the album's tone is no obstacle for me. Certainly no one at the record label could have been too surprised with the recording. It is a Verlaines album through and through. Maybe like the Wilco Documentary, I am Trying to Break Your Heart, the media folk were looking for the big hit single with dance remix. From being a band moving up in the world with international recognition, they were suddenly shoved aside and dumped, as was Martin Phillips group, The Chills.


From the start of the first song, I knew there was some magic to be found in the album. Hanging By Strands is a gorgeous, fragile ballad, probably one of the better songs in the bands canon, which is saying something. It's one of the numbers included in the Flying Nun Verlaines retrospective, You're Just Too Obscure for Me. I would recommend looking into their early compilation Juvenilia, Bird Dog, and Hallelujah All the Way Home discs for starters, all now readily available.

The lineup for Over The Moon was:

Graeme Downes: guitar, vocals, keyboards, oboe, cheap shot cello ?
Darren Stedman: Drums
Russell Flemming: Bass
Paul Winders: Guitars, Backing Vocals

Another strong tune is the uptempo guitar pop 2nd track Bonfire, which sounds like an exhortation to burn out rather than fade away, as the old philosopher once said. I have a soft spot for happy sounding songs with lyrics that belie the tone. The third tune, Sky-Blue Window, however, combines downbeat with extremely dark lyrics.

Sun come up
Quite Vile and aimless
If a pilot in his cockpit over the earth
could wipe out all the refuse of the world
then he'd take my life cos nothing's all its worth...

But there are no shortage of strong tunes. Ballads like Dunderhead, When I Fall are absolutely sublime. You also have nice pop tunes like When I Fall, Dawdling at the Bridge, and in particular, Feather Fell. The album ends hugely with Coming Back to You, probably my favorite song here after the opener. Even though I deeply appreciate the song lyrics, Downes often finds really interesting song arrangements, using tempo changes and dynamics with great creativity. I always assumed somebody would put this record out eventually, but it certainly hasn't been the first time. The Hazy Janes have a similar problem with their 2nd album, and The Last also have a very great album that has never seen the light of day.....


It's going on 15 years now for Over The Moon. The album may not be Downes' Smile, but its a very good record. Maybe someday it will see the light of day. As far the Verlaines go, they have been very prolific lately, releasing three albums, Pot Boiler, Corporate Moronic and this year's Untimely Meditations, which there has been some positive buzz about. Haven't picked it up yet. Maybe next month. I like it when talented musicians persevere, making music despite lack of commercial success. Of course, a little commercial success would be a great thing. While Downes is a well known artist in New Zealand, its probably a good time for the rest of the world to get an earfull. Check out the videos and see if you agree with me.

When Conversation is a Hand Grenade...and Laughter At Chaos! The Verlaines' Juvenilia

Long out of circulation but now readily available from the good people at Flying Nun Records, Juvenilia, a compilation of the early recordings of The Verlaines has been a Kiwi favorite of mine for years. Though Graeme Downes has made many recordings over the years, I still like this collection the best. The songs cut a fine balance between romanticism, tortured artiness and youthful energy. Until recently, you would expect to pay a premium to get this disc, even if you were a resident of their native country, New Zealand, much less the rest of the globe. Thankfully, that problem has been rectified, and this album and several others are available directly from the esteemed label, or from Smoke Cds, which is a good cyber outlet for Kiwi rock.

Life on a Knife's edge

One of the catchphrases of Downes' work are the poetic and classical music touches in his work, but I probably would never have noticed them unless some music critic said so. He did study classical music at Otago University after all. I just hear great inventive music here. This band, along with The Chills, and the Clean caught the attention of the Post-Nirvana music biz, when everyone was out seeking the next new music scene. The Verlaines spent time on Homestead and Slash records, but did not move enough product apparently. I managed to pick up the notorious Over The Moon album (back in the day I got an email from Flying Nun-a few must have fell off a truck), which was to be put out by Sony. The album completed, at the 11th hour the label decided to cut their losses and not release the album. They even began shredding the completed product! Seems a little strange, as the album is pretty good, though not their best.

Once I met a music critic at the WFMU record fair in New York who was a huge booster of music from New Zealand. And a Nice guy. Clued me into a hand painted copy of the Jono Lonie-Peter Jefferies "At Swim 2 Birds" that was floating around that day, and told me about Flying Nun finding a box of The Gordon's Second Album lying around. Thank you so much. He said he was at a music convention and was speaking to some people from Slash Records and at that point they simply said New Zealand is dead now. After touting album by The Verlaines and The Chills, they basically were writing the whole country off now. They probably got burned, people probably got canned from their positions. Music is a strange business.

That being said Juvenilia is some of the best New Zealand music of the era, part of the quintessential Dunedin music that is most associated with the Flying Nun label (though not a totally accurate assessment, just as Subpop is viewed as the "grunge" label). Their Hallelujah All The Way Home and Bird Dog (Slow Sad Love Song is like the NZ version of Day in the Life) albums are also pretty excellent. Juvenilia begins with the classic rollicking Death and The Maiden, whose opening lines "You're just too, too obscure for me" became the title of the Verlaines retrospective released on Flying Nun. If you have ever seen the charming low budget living room video from the Flying Nun dvd Very Short Films (not NTSC format), you will remember this one as video with the enormous bunny rabbit in it and the herky jerky waltz interlude.



Pyromaniac is another raucous number, though I'm not sure what shralak is in the lyric sheet. Maybe its supposed to be shellac? The number sounds almost like a jolly paean to arson, but I would guess that it is more of an analogy regarding living life. Downes' music can also be more quietly contemplative, as can be heard in the xylophone and oboe laden dirge Windsong. One of my favorites on this collection is in fact the blissful strummy ballad Joed Out. Downes is one remarkable songwriter.



But this just a very solid 15 song collection. The wonderful song Baud to Tears, is followed by the equally thrilling tune Crisis after Crisis. Angela alternates choppy  verses with a huge hooky chorus. "What am I supposed to do with you, When you get bored, there's no telling what you might do." You Cheat Yourself of Everything That Moves" is another monster of a song, as is the seven minute Clean-like, You Say You.



I actually did get to see Graeme Downes perform a few years ago, in-between the glory days of the 80's and the newest incarnation of the group who have released the well received Pot Boiler and the recent Corporate Moronic. It was just Graeme performing at Maxwell's in Hoboken solo. It wasn't such a good set, more of an afterthought. Apparently he was in New York on business I think, maybe trying to get signed. Unfortunately, he performed along to some pre-recorded music which I don't think worked too well. When he finally just strummed the guitar and sang, the set went much better. I was still glad that I went. I kind of felt like I was helping support a worthy artist.When these guys come from half way around the world to perform, you need to jump at the opportunity, because it may not happen again anytime soon.

In conclusion, this album is one of the essential New Zealand albums and one of my favorite Flying Nun albums of the era. This is cream of the crop stuff in my view. Don't deprive yourself, music fans.