Review Revue: The Verlaines - Hallelujah All the Way Home

Say what you will about the Internet age, but this whole "global flow of instantly accessible information" thing definitely has its uses. A couple of which are pointed out by the conversation on the album cover for Hallelujah All the Way Home, the debut album by New Zealand band The Verlaines. For instance, if this album had been released today in New Zealand, it would have been available to the rest of the world at the same time, and we wouldn't have had to wait four years for Homestead to release it in the States - which would have saved a lot of confusion for some poor college DJs. Secondly, the existence of the Internet enables me to know more in a few seconds than said DJs - who seemed to have some level of familiarity with the Verlaines before hearing this record - and to avoid embarrassing misstatements and incorrect corrections.

I will save my "well actually"s for another occasion, but suffice it to say that this album was indeed their first, and thus was not a link between anything. Now all I need to do is actually have a listen and I'll be all set.

"Just an EP for now. A full-length LP is in the works for 1990. Didn't excite me, but I did find this enjoyable to listen to. 'The Lady & the Lizard' has a cool clarinet & cello thang going on that I liked. Check the horns on 'For the love of Ash Grey.' Classical meets jangle . . . ?"

"I am quite happy with this. Definitely better than Bird Dog + maybe even more consistent than their great singles comp. Try 'All Laid On,' 'Lying in State,' 'Phil, Too?' or really anything except the final cut, which drags a little. Great."

"From 1986, mind you. The link between Juvenilia & Bird Dog. A transitional disc that perhaps outshines the points it stretches between."

"Excellent pop band!"