Codeine (band)

Codeine
Codeine playing one of their first reunion shows at I'll Be Your Mirror, Alexandra Palace, London, May 2012
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Indie rock, post-rock, sadcore/slowcore
Years active	1989–1994, 2012
Associated acts	Come, Rex, HiM, June of 44
Members	Stephen Immerwahr John Engle Chris Brokaw
Past members	Doug Scharin

Codeine was an American indie rock band formed in 1989 in New York City and later based in Chicago. 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 made a small reunion in 2012.

Due to the band's slow and depressing musical style, they are credited as a pioneering act of what is known as "slowcore" or "sadcore".

Codeine was formed by members Stephen Immerwahr (vocal, bass), Chris Brokaw (drums), and John Engle (guitar). Codeine pioneered the slowcore and sadcore subgenres of indie rock, but with a more experimental attitude than other bands in the genre, such as Low, Idaho and Red House Painters. The band's original tone, marked by slow tempos, Immerwahr's nasal vocals, and Engle's ringing Telecaster, did not evolve much 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 in the Spring of the following year.

The Barely Real 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".