Customer Reviews

The White Birch

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Albums don't come much bleaker than Codeine's second and final full-length album. But it is also a record in which the over-riding lyrical themes of emptiness and isolation find expression in a form of music which is spare, economical and extemely beautiful. Arriving the same year as debut albums from Low and Bedhead, it is a seminal record in defining what has since become known as slowcore. If you own and love records by either of these bands, then you need The White Birch. However, don't expect a glacial easy-listening ride - the album has harsh moments and in places recalls the tense, dissonant and emotive psychic landscape of Slint's Spiderland. It is no surprise that Mogwai are devotees of this album - Come on Die Young inhabits similarly austere territory. The White Birch is a minimalist masterpiece; Mike McMackin's bare, reverbed mix creates the desolate sense of open space which contributes significantly to the power of the record's sparsely beautiful songs, which are (of course) slow and narcotic, yet also capable of painful explosions of discordant noise. Suffering a similar fate to Rodan's Rusty, the record has been largely ignored since its release, in stark contrast to the steadily growing critical reputation of Slint. While perhaps not as decade-defining as Spiderland, The White Birch is certainly as essential - buy it now!

Sadly this was to be the last yet most dazzling album by the mighty Codeine. This album is filled with quiet melancholic passages that quite often erupts in distorted noise. Along with Sunny Day Real Estate this is one of the truely great American indie-bands.

Slow and tense and melancholy. _White Birch_ is the perfect album to sit back and smoke a pack of cigarettes to.

Essentially, this is an incredible full length debut by a band that is about as slow as they come..except for low of course. Anyway there is just something about these guys that just makes them great. The music is often simplistic and stripped down but has a shimmering beauty to it. They lyrics are awesome as well..all be it simple..but still very cool. Not to mention this was groundbreaking material back in 1993 and still is to this date. This is also the grandfather behind such amazing acts like c-clamp and red stars theory who take codeine to the next level with more complexity.

Tolerable and sometimes effective slowed-and-stripped down emo balladry is still too melodically muted and repetitiously indulgent to sound like anything other than Low's retarded step cousin.

well maybe i'm just not quite soooooo depressed as these guys. who wants to wait 3 seconds in between every drum beat? when it doesn't go anywhere anyway? and if there are any great melodies they're too subtle for me to discern. Try Slint instead.