Hallelujah Picassos

Formed initially as the Rattlesnakes in Auckland, New Zealand, the alternative rock group that became Hallelujah Picassos operated under the guidance of vocalist Roland Rorschach and guitarist Peter McLennan. They recruited drummer Bobbylon after their original percussionist received a jail sentence mere weeks into the band’s existence, then completed the roster by adding bassist Tony de Raad. Following an independently issued cassette, the group adopted the name Hallelujah Picassos and made their first vinyl appearance with “Clap Your Hands” on the Positive Vibrations compilation. The cassette track “Mummy Is That a Chainsaw” also found success on New Zealand college radio. By 1991 Tony de Raad had departed, replaced on bass by ex-Black Girls Machine member Johnnie Pain, and the three-song release Peanut Butter appeared later that year. A ska-influenced single titled “No More” surfaced soon afterward, preceding the band’s full-length debut Hateman in Love in 1992. The U + I EP arrived in 1993 ahead of Drinking with Judas. In early 1994 the lineup expanded to five members with the arrival of ex-Colony guitarist Gavin Downie. The Gospel of the D.N.A. Demon followed in 1995, supported by a national tour, yet Pain and McLennan both left shortly thereafter for “spiritual reasons.”