The cover of
Codeine's first album Frigid Stars LP sets the mood well -- a negative black-and-white shot of some stars, looking even more haunting as a result. As for the album, the tone isn't cold or unemotional, but simply gripped by a deep black mood, where everything seems on the verge of suddenly going wrong or collapsing. There's a cryptic warmth in the slow tempos and feedback produced by the deliberate strumming and chords from John Engle and
Chris Brokaw's guitars. It isn't the narcotic hush of
Low -- there's actually a little more relative energy than that! -- or sludgy stoner rock à la
Black Sabbath, but something else entirely. Bassist
Stephen Immerwahr's vocals lend to that feeling, softly ruminative, sometimes straining, but never sounding self-important or whining (though sometimes the lyrics are creepily macabre -- check out the start of "Cave-In"). If one lets oneself go for the album's general feel, then it all flows together to make a touching, surprising experience, but those seeking variety aren't likely to be happy. It avoids sounding repetitious by virtue of the dynamics -- treat the entire album as an extended mood piece, and it works well. Engle's lead guitar work throws in enough heartbreakingly strong moments to help -- the sudden low swoop on "Pickup Song" is a standout, while the dark, forbidding drones on "Second Chance" are truly chilling. An interesting cover surfaces a few songs in -- "New Year's" (co-written by
Bitch Magnet singer Sooyoung Park but not recorded by him until the first
Seam album, Headsparks, two years later).
Codeine here sound a touch cleaner than elsewhere on
Frigid Stars, where the guitars can really sprawl when needed, but
Brokaw's drumming and
Immerwahr's great delivery mark it out as their version instead of merely a straightforward remake. [Numero Group's 2012 reissue of
Frigid Stars doubles the length of the album and adds some revelatory bonus tracks. Chief among them is the song "Skeletons" which is taken from a five-song set of demos ("the SOS demos") and incredibly enough, is an uptempo rocker that shows that the band could play fast quite well, they just didn't want to. Also among those demos is "Corner Store," a slow-motion dirge that sounds like a
Nikki Sudden track and features harmony vocals, and a great lost song called "Summer Dresses." The set also adds a lovely acoustic version of "Pea" and noisy, lo-fi demos of "Cave In" and "Second Chance."] ~ Ned Raggett & Tim Sendra