While the type of '80s music with heavy synths and over-the-top fashion statements is often resurrected in the '10s, less known these days is the era's primitive and ambitious pop-rock underground. Long before The Decemberists raided the thesaurus, there were The Verlaines: an unusual group from Dunedin, New Zealand, led by multi-instrumentalist Graeme Downes, who’d studied classical music but struggled with containing his emotions. Named after the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine, The Verlaines aimed to mix high art with a desperate, withering tone. 1985’s Hallelujah All the Way Home is quite refreshing. The band plays for broke with the primitive rock ’n’ roll of “Lying in State” while refining their primitivism on the gorgeous “Don’t Send Me Away.” This album has long been underrated in favor of The Verlaines' later works, but the genuine enthusiasm behind “The Lady and the Lizard,” “It Was Raining,” and “Phil Too?” are enough to make this an essential release from the '80s Flying Nun scene, which also featured The Chills and The Clean.