The Verlaines were formed by Graeme Downes, a young student studying classical music at Otago University who found inspiration to form a band from influences as diverse as the Ramones and Bob Dylan. Even since the group's early days (including a two-year incubation period before their first public performance!) Graeme's songwriting has combined rock influences with his well-documented background in classical music (he now has a PhD and lectures at Otago). T he Verlaines' songs are studies in dramatic, dynamic rock -- whether they are guitar-based or embellished with all manner of classical instruments, the structure of Graeme's songs never fails to impress, and his superb lyrics thread poetic narratives regularly laced with black humour and drunkenness.

This CD bears some resemblence to 1988's LP of the same name, containing as it does three tracks from the Dunedin Double EP recorded in Christchurch in 1982, the single "Death and the Maiden" recorded the same year, and the six songs which made up 1984's Ten O'clock in the Afternoon EP. It also includes, however, a further five tracks -- "CD, Jimmy Jazz and Me" (b-side to "Death and the Maiden"), both sides of the "Doomsday" single recorded late in 1985, and two tracks recorded live at the Windsor Castle in May 1986 -- "Instrumental" and "Phil Too?", both live staples from the group's early repetoire, the latter also recorded for 1985's album, Hallelujah All The Way Home. A number of the tracks here have been recently re-mixed for Juvenilia by Graeme Downes and engineer Victor Grbic in an effort to strengthen the s ongs without altering the essential character or historical content. The recordings and the group's history are documented in Graeme Downes' new liner notes for this release.

The result is a compact disc that ought to do more than simply replace worn vinyl copies of those classic Verlaines records. The Juvenilia CD shows the remarkable consistency of Graeme Downes' songwriting and the breadth of his earliest musical ideas like no other Verlaines release. In the cut-and-thrust of today's pop, this sounds as accessible as it ever did (which may depend on your ears!) and there's certainly nothing 'dated' about this early '80s music.