Take Good Care Of It: A Brief Review Of The New Record Store Day Reissue Of Bird Dog From The Verlaines

Quite obviously their peak, The Verlaines' 1987 album Bird Dog is getting a special reissue today for Record Store Day 2023. I am not a vinyl person, but I'd urge you to buy this anyway because the sound, as judged by the review download I received, is extraordinary. This mix is spacious and natural, with a warmth that my old CD with its mix just doesn't have. Thumbs up to Schoolkids Records for bringing this back and making it sound so good again.

The official second studio album from The Verlaines, this record is where I came in. I think I got this on CD not too long after I got Brave Words by The Chills earlier in 1988. If The Chills impressed me by their smarts, The Verlaines did it by touching my heart. The lyrics of Graeme Downes are sharp, yes, but it's the swaying, lyrical grace of "Just Mum" and the peppy "You Forget Love" that win over still so many decades later. "CD Jimmy Jazz and Me" has the energy of singles like "Pyromaniac" and "Death and the Maiden", but the arrangement is more complex. Downes brought in an element of chamber pop here, with strings and horns, but the tune, like so many here, still careens forward with an emotional rush that is bracing.

This 2023 reissue sounds spectacular, so now a listener can hear more of what bassist Jane Dodd brought to this, with her bass being the heart that beats loudly through these tunes. Downes would continue the band and thrive as a songwriter, but there's something magical about Bird Dog. It's silly in a heart-on-the-sleeve way in spots (like the title cut), and heartbreaking in others ("Slow Sad Love Song") in others. Wildly lush, intellectually bright, and possessing a naturalness that's still sort of stunning, Bird Dog is a masterpiece. And there's nothing else that sounds quite like this, not even the rest of the Verlaines discography.

Bird Dog by The Verlaines is out today via Schoolkids Records.