POST NO. 5: BARELY REAL

Low is still going strong after more than a decade. And as the century turned, the brothers Kadane successfully morphed Bedhead into The New Year. But whatever in the world happened to Codeine, the third piece of the mighty slowcore triumvirate? Codeine arguably got the slow/sadcore ball rolling when they released their Sub Pop debut, Frigid Stars, in 1990. After releasing a great EP, Barely Real, in 1992 and their second full length, The White Birch, in 1994, Codeine was never heard from again.

By the release of Birch, original drummer Chris Brokaw had left the band to focus his attention on his other band, Come. Original members Stephen Immerwahr (bass/vocals) and John Engle (guitar) recruited Rex drummer Doug Scharin (also of H.I.M. and June of 44) to join the group. But that lineup only lasted for one full length as well.

Brokaw played guitar for Come until they split up as the century turned. He also formed Pullman with Bundy K. Brown and Doug McCombs. He then spent some time backing former Come frontwoman Thalia Zedick on her solo career, performing with Steve Wynn, and drumming for The New Year, before starting a solo career of his own. He released three full lengths under his own name between 2002 and 2004. (Anyone heard 'em?)

Immerwahr went on to play bass in a band called Raymond, of which it's nearly impossible to find any trace of on the world wide web. And I have no idea what happened to Engle, which is a shame since his guitar work with Codeine was just short of brilliant.

With Slint and The Pixies reforming, maybe it's time to give a shout out into cyberspace for a Codeine reunion. Pretty please?

Codeine - "Barely Real"

(From the EP of the same name.) For a more detailed bio, hit up Sub Pop or this fan site, which also offers several mp3s.