The Verlaines are 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 going on an extended hiatus after their 1997 album Over The Moon. 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.