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Album Details

• Artist: Codeine
• Album: The White Birch
• Label: Sub Pop
• Year of Release: 1994
• ME Rating: Indie Classic
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-03-29

If anyone is reading this review who likes Low but has never heard of Codeine should be ashamed of themselves. Low owes a lot to Codeine who almost single-handedly created the slowcore genre that Low seems to be king of these days. Codeine finalized their place in history with The White Birch. It was only 3 albums into a shaky career but the sound that they created was so original that flocks of indie kids were taken by it. They take the sparseness that Slint was working towards but took the mellower side of things. The space between their notes is what makes Codeine so intriguing. There are breaks between some guitar lines that are a mile wide, which leaves the listener wanting more and hanging on the edge of every note. There is no denying that this type of music is not for everyone but those that do enjoy slowcore know why it is so addictive. 9 songs and they seem to take forever to get through due to the gentleness in which the band delivers them. It’s worth the wait when you get to “Smoking Room�. You may guess that David Grubbs (Gastr Del Sol) is on a couple tracks lending his trademark sound to the mix. The White Birch is not just for Codeine fans, it’s for anyone who appreciates slowcore and would like to discover its roots.

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