The Verlaines formed nearly 30 years ago as part of the great post-punk revolution that was the 'Dunedin Sound'. A lot has happened since then, but they say the revolution's not over yet.
Every band has one, especially if they've been round the block a few times - it's that one pesky song that audiences keep on asking for.
'Death and the Maiden' has been that song for the Verlaines since 1983. It just goes to show some things never change
"I still think they're relevant lyrically cause they're about universal things about young people, and booze and freedom, and going off the rails and all those sorts of things, which still happens," says vocalist Graeme Downes. "And now everyone's wearing skinny jeans again."
In the time it's taken to get from that first wave of skinny jeans to the present, the band's line up has changed dramatically, these days settling on something a little less orthodox.
"Now we're in a period of looseness where there are about 15 people involved in different stages of the project, whether recording or live," says Downes. "It's just the only way to do it."
The band was born into the Dunedin/Flying Nun sound of the 1980s, in the days when there was still such a thing as musical revolution.
"After punk there was a void, and people were essentially trying to reinvent music in a way to make it interesting, or to explore more of the boundaries," says drummer Darren Stedman.
The band says these days they're still exploring.
"I kind of feel like Corporate Moronic's a pretty radical record in terms of pushing the boundaries a bit further from stuff that we've done in the past in a whole raft of ways, so there's still room for revolution," says Downes.
3 News
source: newshub archive
