The Verlaines were a rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand notable for combining rock passion with classical compositional ideas. The Verlaines were formed in 1981 by Graeme Downes, Craig Easton, Anita Pillai, Phillip Higham and Greg Kerr; the band went through multiple line-ups before their last studio release, Over The Moon, in 1997. In 2003 a career retrospective You're just too obscure for me was released. The band were named after French poet Paul Verlaine - not, as is occasionally suggested, Tom Verlaine, who also took his stage name from the poet. The Verlaines were noted for their angular, "difficult" song structures, wordy and downbeat lyrics, unusual subject matter all contained in often frantic up-tempo playing. The Verlaines were 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.

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