Codeine is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band formed in 1989 in New York City. They released two full-length albums—'' Frigid Stars LP'' in 1990 and '' The White Birch'' in 1994. Although the group broke up in 1994 shortly after the release of ''The White Birch'', their subdued and melancholic style helped pioneer the then-nascent

slowcore Slowcore, also known as sadcore, is a subgenre of indie rock characterised by its subdued tempos, minimalist instrumentation, and sombre vocal performances. Slowcore's influences are diverse, involving varying other genres, including folk rock ...

subgenre of indie rock. Codeine has since reunited on two occasions: the first for a handful of shows in 2012, and a second time for a series of shows in New York City and Los Angeles in 2023.

History

Codeine was formed by members Stephen Immerwahr (vocals, bass), Chris Brokaw (drums), and John Engle (guitar).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 679-680 Codeine pioneered the indie rock subgenre

,Mason, Stewart
Codeine Biography
,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Retrieved June 26, 2011 Retrieved July 21, 2012 but with a more experimental attitude than other bands in the genre, such as Low,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

and

Red House Painters Red House Painters were an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988, before relocating to San Francisco, California in 1989. Originally formed by singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek and drummer Anthony Koutsos, the pair were soon joine ...

. The band's original tone, marked by slow tempos, Immerwahr's nasal vocals, and Engle's ringing

Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...

, stayed consistent during their career. Codeine released their first album '' Frigid Stars LP'' on the German label Glitterhouse in August 1990. The album was released on

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

early the following year. The ''

Barely Real ''Barely Real'' is a 1992 EP by the American indie rock band Codeine. After releasing their previous album '' Frigid Stars LP'' in 1990, the group accepted an invitation from the quartet Bastro to tour in Europe in 1991. Following the tour, t ...

'' EP was released in November 1992. Immerwahr rejected several of the songs after the recording session. Some of these songs would be re-recorded for the final album. The song "W." is a solo performance on piano by

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine (band), Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet a ...

(of

Bastro Bastro was an American post-hardcore band which was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's main line-up consisted of David Grubbs on guitar, Clark Johnson on bass guitar, and John McEntire on drums. The band also experimented wit ...

Squirrel Bait Squirrel Bait was an American punk rock band from Louisville, Kentucky active from 1983 to 1988. Squirrel Bait's dense, moody, melodic hardcore sound, featuring pronounced tempo shifts, foreshadowed the grunge sound of the late 1980s as well as ...

and

Gastr del Sol Gastr del Sol (derived from a combination of the name of a race horse (Gato del Sol) and David Grubbs' previous band Bastro) was an American, Chicago-based band, consisting for most of their career of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 19 ...

). A somewhat different full-band version of the song appears on Codeine's next album, now titled "Wird". Brokaw left the band after the release of ''Barely Real'' to play full-time with his other band Come, and after Josh Madell of Antietam replaced him temporarily for a US tour, he was replaced permanently by Rex drummer Doug Scharin. Codeine's final release was the full-length album '' The White Birch'', released in May 1994. David Grubbs also participated on the album. After this release, the band broke up. Doug Scharin continued in Rex and

June of 44 June of 44 is an American rock band which was formed in 1994 from ex-members of Rodan, Lungfish, Rex, and Hoover. The band's name refers to the period during which writers Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin corresponded. The band toured extensivel ...

, and later as the band leader of HiM. Following the demise of Come, original drummer Chris Brokaw became a solo artist and itinerant musician, including playing drums for The New Year and playing guitar with

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

and with Christina Rosenvinge.

Reunion

In February 2012, Codeine announced it would perform on the request of

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the so ...

' sister event, I'll Be Your Mirror on May 26, 2012, in London, England at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

, along with other shows, to commemorate a comprehensive reissue of their recordings by

The Numero Group The Numero Group is an archival record label that creates compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label, known as Numero, was founded in 2003 ...

in June 2012. Codeine's final reunion show was at Le Poisson Rouge in New York on July 15, 2012. In September 2022, the band released ''Dessau'', an album of 8 songs recorded at Harold Dessau Recording in 1992 that was originally intended to appear on their second album, but was scrapped due to production conflicts. Chris Brokaw would leave the band shortly after the album was shelved. Two songs from these sessions would be re-recorded and released on ''

'', others re-recorded for ''The White Birch''; four songs from the Dessau sessions were first released on their 2012 compilation ''When I See the Sun''. Codeine's first show in 11 years took place in New York City's Union Pool on February 11, 2023, prior to playing the Numero Group's 20th anniversary festival in Los Angeles on February 18 and 19. Additional shows took place later that year throughout Europe and the US. The following Spring the band played shows in Canada, Australia, Japan, and Mexico.

Discography

* '' Frigid Stars LP'' (1991) * '' The White Birch'' (1994) * ''Dessau'' (2022)

References

External links

* * *
Semi-official Codeine site, full discography, lyrics, etc. – new host

Codeine biography on SubPop's website

Codeine entry on TrouserPress website

Web site for former guitarist Chris Brokaw

Web site for former drummer Doug Scharin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Codeine Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Musical groups reestablished in 2012 Musical groups from New York City Sub Pop artists American shoegaze musical groups Slowcore groups Glitterhouse Records artists Musical groups reestablished in 2023 The Numero Group artists American indie rock groups American post-rock groups 1989 establishments in New York City