Codeine

I honestly don’t know what it is about gut wrenchingly depressing music that moves at a snails pace, but whatever it is, it has and will forever have me under its spell. I don’t even have to be feeling miserable to listen to it, and I don’t even know if listening to it when you are feeling miserable is much of a healthy thing to do anyway. However, I am a sucker for it. One of my favorite go to bands in this category is Codeine. Originally formed in 1989, the band released two full-lengths (Frigid Stars and The White Birch) and an EP (Barely Real) before calling it quits in 1994. Along with Galaxie 500, Codeine pretty much helped lay the foundation for what is commonly labeled “slowcore”. Not the greatest name for a genre of music, but it’s probably one of the most self-explanatory.

If you didn’t gather from the above, Codeine played music that was at such a slow pace that if it wasn’t for the sudden bursts of droning distortion then it would probably lull you to sleep. Along with it sounding completely lethargic, it also laid on the melancholy pretty thick. I consider Codeine to be one the saddest sounding bands I happen to own records by. The mood throughout both of their full-lengths lingers in everything from depression, hopelessness, and loss. For all the bands that eventually followed in Codeine’s footsteps, hardly any were able to equal the level of emotional exhaustion that their music contained.

Frigid Stars:
Codeine – Pickup Song [MP3]
Codeine – Cave-In [MP3]

The White Birch:
Codeine – Loss Leader [MP3]
Codeine – Washed Up [MP3]

Both full-lengths are still widely available and can be had at Amazon. Pick ‘em up if you’re looking for more music to fill the winter time blues.