Codeine

Codeine emerged from early-’90s New York as one of the first acts to shape the American slowcore movement that later encompassed Bedhead, American Analog Set, and Low. Drawing clear influence from the Velvet Underground’s third album and from Galaxie 500, the trio introduced a sharper edge while stretching tempos still further, producing a sound that felt singular at the time even though numerous newer bands quickly adopted its approach. Their initial existence proved brief: the group disbanded in 1994 after issuing only a handful of singles, one EP, the 1990 debut Frigid Stars LP, and its 1994 follow-up The White Birch. Lasting influence nevertheless prompted both a reunion and the expansive anthology When I See the Sun in 2012.

Stephen Immerwahr, John Engle, and Chris Brokaw formed Codeine in 1989. A demo that stretched the Pete Ham/Tom Evans standard “Without You” from four minutes to nine secured deals with Glitterhouse Records in Europe and Sub Pop in the United States the next year. Frigid Stars LP reached stores via Glitterhouse late in 1990 and via Sub Pop in spring 1991, drawing generally favorable notices.

The lengthy EP Barely Real appeared in 1992. Piano from ex-Squirrel Bait member and art rocker David Grubbs (with whom Codeine had toured Europe as part of his instrumental group Bastro), a noise-guitar episode from Bitch Magnet’s Jon Fine, and a cover of MX-80 Sound’s “Promise of Love” added variety, yet the record largely extended the style already established on Frigid Stars LP.

Brokaw began splitting duties in 1991, drumming for Codeine while playing guitar in Thalia Zedek’s band Come. He departed Codeine late in 1992 to concentrate fully on Come. After a previously booked U.S. tour went ahead with Antietam’s Josh Madell filling in temporarily, Engle and Immerwahr auditioned for a permanent drummer able to sustain their deliberately slow tempos. They selected Douglas Scharin of the Brooklyn chamber-rock quartet Rex, who, unlike Brokaw, maintained simultaneous band memberships. The reconfigured trio spent a summer in Grubbs’ hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, refining older songs for live performance and writing new material.

Grubbs produced the single “Tom,” issued in fall 1993; the full-length The White Birch followed in April 1994. Slightly more melodic yet equally unhurried, The White Birch stands as the group’s strongest album. After an extensive U.S. tour the members parted amicably. Scharin returned to Rex and later worked with the instrumental post-rock project HIM and the harder-edged June of 44, while Immerwahr formed Raymond.

In 2011 the Numero Group contacted Codeine about reissuing the catalog in a single box set. When I See the Sun, containing nearly as many bonus tracks as previously released album tracks, appeared in early summer 2012. At the same time the band reunited, at the request of longtime fans Mogwai, for several festival and concert dates. Numero Group continued releasing rare or previously unheard Codeine material in 2013 with the live album What About the Lonely?, documenting a 1992 Chicago performance. In 2022 the label released Dessau, an eight-song collection recorded in 1992 that had been planned as the second album yet was ultimately shelved. The Dessau sessions included several songs later re-recorded for The White Birch after Brokaw’s departure, additional tracks that appeared on Barely Real, and other miscellaneous material.