Codeine was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band formed in 1989 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. They released two full-length albums—'' Frigid Stars LP'' in 1990 and '' The White Birch'' in 1994. The band broke up in 1994 shortly after the release of ''The White Birch'', but reunited to play a handful of shows in 2012. The band will be reuniting for a show in Los Angeles in 2023. Due to the band's slow and depressing musical style, they are credited as a pioneering act of what is known as "

slowcore Slowcore is a subgenre of alternative rock and indie rock. The music of slowcore artists is generally characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos and minimalist arrangements. Slowcore is often used interchangeably with the ...

" or "

sadcore Sadcore is a subgenre occasionally identified by music journalists to describe examples of alternative rock characterised by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies and slower tempos, or alternatively, songs with deceivingly upbeat melodies that are simu ...

History

Codeine was formed by members

Stephen Immerwahr Stephen Immerwahr is an American bass guitarist and vocalist best known as a founding member of the slowcore group Codeine. Biography Stephen Immerwahr began his foray into music in 1988, originally serving as an assistant engineer to bands suc ...

(vocal, bass),

Chris Brokaw Chris Brokaw (born August 1, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work with the bands Come and Codeine. Life and career While studying at Oberlin College, Brokaw met many people who became figures on the American indie rock scen ...

(drums), and John Engle (guitar).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 679-680 Codeine pioneered the

and

subgenres of indie rock,Mason, Stewart
Codeine Biography
,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

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

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...

and Red House Painters. 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. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes Paul had built a prototype solid body ...

, 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 a 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, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are oft ...

early the following year. The ''

Barely Real ''Barely Real'' is the 1992 extended play (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. Follow ...

'' 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 (of Bastro, Squirrel Bait and Gastr del Sol). 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 The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

replaced him temporarily for a US tour, he was replaced permanently by Rex drummer

Doug Scharin Douglas Arthur Scharin is an American drummer and percussionist. He has served as a member of a multitude of bands, including Codeine, Rex, HiM, Enablers, June of 44, Loftus and Mice Parade. He currently resides in San Diego, California. ...

. 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 extensively, ...

, 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 musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. M ...

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

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). ...

at All Tomorrow's Parties' sister event, I'll Be Your Mirror, on 26 May 2012 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Orig ...

, along with other shows, to commemorate a comprehensive reissue of their recordings by The Numero Group in June 2012. Codeine's final reunion show was at Le Poisson Rouge in New York on 15 July 2012. In September 2022, the band will release ''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. Tracks from these sessions would later be released on ''

'', with some being re-recorded for ''The White Birch'', while four songs from the Dessau sessions were first released on their 2012 compilation ''When I See the Sun''.

Discography

Albums

* '' Frigid Stars LP'' (1990), Glitterhouse * '' The White Birch'' (1994), Sub Pop * ''Dessau'' (2022; recorded June 1992), The Numero Group

Extended plays

* ''

'' (1992), Sub Pop

Singles

* ''Castle/Losida Slide'' Codeine/Surgery split 7-inch (1990, Glitterhouse) * ''Valmead/Pea'' Bitch Magnet/Codeine split 7-inch and 12-inch (1990, The Communion Label) * ''Pickup Song'' 7-inch (1990, Glitterhouse) * ''D'' 7-inch (1990, Glitterhouse, Sub Pop) * ''A L'Ombre De Nous (In Our Shadow)/Produkt'' Bastro/Codeine split 7-inch (1991, Sub Pop, Glitterhouse) * ''Realize/Broken Hearted Wine'' 7-inch (1992, Sub Pop) * ''Sassy'' Codeine/ Velocity Girl/ Beat Happening/

Sebadoh Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for h ...

split 7-inch (1992, Sub Pop) * ''Ides/Working Holiday'' Codeine/ The Coctails split 7-inch (1993,

Simple Machines A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term re ...

) * ''Tom''/''Something New'' 7-inch (1993, Sub Pop)

Compilations

* ''A Means to an End'' (1995),

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

* ''When I See the Sun'' (2012), The Numero Group

References

External links

Official Codeine site, full discography, lyrics, etc.

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

Codeine biography on SubPop's website
* Codeine entry on Allmusic 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 Shoegazing musical groups Sadcore and slowcore groups Glitterhouse Records artists