In spring time, when it's a season of meeting and parting in Japan (because graduation and entrance ceremonies take place in March and April). The cherry blossoms have fallen while I have been confined to the house every day, and personally, I lost the person close to me suddenly, which makes the season even sadder this year.
There are as many songs about the sadness of spring as there are cherry blossom petals especially here in Japan, but I think there are also many people who have a twisted sensibility that doesn't allow them to relate to such songs.
I'm one of those people. When I hear "beautiful memories or partings” sung unashamedly and sadly, I feel uncomfortable as if it were the world where there's no place to be or I don't exist in the first place.
Even though I'm such a cynic, there’s one song I think of at night during this season every year:
"Broken-Hearted Wine" by Codeine.
In spring time
When you haven't got a dime
Yeah, in spring time
And life seems a crime
Come on over
Cry on my shoulder, and drink
Broken-hearted wine
Tastes fine
In the spring time
Broken-hearted wine
Tastes fine
So you finally see her (his) face at last, and the pain will never pass
You thought she (he) was the only girl (boy) in the whole wide world for you
You can come on over
Cry on my shoulder, and drink
Broken-hearted wine
Tastes fine
In the spring time
Broken-hearted wine
Tastes fine
So you don't know what to do
There's just one cure for you
In spring time
When there isn't any reason
Or rhyme
To thinkin'
That you'll be mine
So come on over
Cry on my shoulder, and drink
Broken-hearted wine
Tastes fine
In the spring time
Broken-hearted wine
Tastes fine
In the spring time
In the final part of the '80s classic youth comics "Shonan Bakusozoku” by Satoshi Yoshida, there is an episode called "I Love You! Three Years". The story is like this.
Saeko Iimura (a.k.a. Meshimura-san derived from Chinese reading of her family name), who is the class president, has been secretly in love for three years with the main character Eguchi, the leader of the motorcycle gang. However, she has known Eguchi has a crush on another girl, and she's wondering if she should confess her love to him before graduation. Then she consults with a boy who is another member of the same team as Eguchi……
This is a refreshing story about heartbreak and rugged compassion for a friend that transcends gender.
Such tenderness is sung in this song with a dark and miserable worldview without any refreshment.
The melody is muttered curtly only with the simple electric guitar as an accompaniment. This totally unadorned song even with no bass and drums may sound like low-key and boring by hearing once.
However, I think this song is gently warm music that slowly sinks into our twisted sensibilities after a while. Just like drinking a fermented alcoholic drink on a still slightly chilly spring night.
A rock band called Codeine, which takes its name from an opioid painkiller used in cough syrup, was formed by Stephen Immerwahr (bass/vocals), John Engle (guitar), and Chris Brokaw (drums) in New York City in 1989.
Their music played with an extremely slow tempo, depressing lyrics, and simple stripped-down arrangements are described as pioneering a genre called "slowcore" or "sadcore".
Same as their musicality which gave us the impression of reticence like silently staring at somewhere alone, there are not many works they have left behind.
They released their 1st album “Frigid Stars” on the German label Glitterhouse Records in 1990, and that led them to sign with Sub Pop Records, based in Seattle, which is an iconic independent label of the era. After releasing an EP "Barely Real" in 1992, Chris, on drums, left the band in order to occupy himself as a guitarist of his other band called Come, which released the bluesy songs on Sub Pop and the also famous indie label Matador Records.
Then Doug Scharin officially joined the band after Josh Madell of Antietam supported as a temporary drummer for a tour. Their 2nd album "The White Birch" was released in 1994, but soon afterward they were ended. After Codeine, Doug played in Rex, June of 44, HiM, and so on. Chris also continues to work tirelessly as a member of several bands besides Come, like The New Year, Pullman, and Consonant, also a solo artist, and a collaborator of many musicians including Thurston Moor of Sonic Youth. However, having exhausted their inspiration for the band, both Stephen and John disappeared from the music scene once and for all.
Speaking of the USA in the early ’90s when they were active, it was the time Nirvana, also from Sub Pop, had a record-breaking breakthrough, and the Seattle-based indie rock known as "Grunge" became a huge movement. Underground bands were catapulted into the limelight, and they also dominated the mainstream music scene.
In the shadows of such an uproar, who had been quietly continuing their activities at their own pace were the bands categorized as slowcore/sadcore. In addition to Codeine, bands like Red House Painters from San Francisco, Bedhead from Texas, and Low from Minnesota began to emerge simultaneously in each place of the US and created alternative art forms of rock music in a different way than the grunge explosion.
Even though Codeine is considered to be a pioneer of slowcore/sadcore, they seem to have somewhat different characteristics to me. Their music is not like any other bands such as Red Hows Painters which quietly played the aesthetic songs, Bedhead which played subdued and gentle melodies in a bland tone, nor Low which describes a solemn soundscape with a tense acoustical treatment.
Above all, there is almost no folky lyricism and sentimentality that is common to other bands. Rather, their bleak music, which is like slapping down the inescapable intense emotion hidden inside and thrusting it away vacuously, sounds as if trying to deny those sentimentalisms.
However, considering slowcore/sadcore was named after punk rock, which turned rock ’n’ roll into a faster, shorter, and simpler style, and then hardcore punk which pursued its speed and loudness, Codeine is the band most embodied the name of this genre.
The stroke of solid electric guitar sounds peculiar to the Fender Telecaster, the drums and bass which is kept to the necessary minimum, and the vocal as if muttering bluntly. I can't help feeling that the ensemble, consisted of each of those sounds played slowly and carefully using the contrast between stillness and motion, paradoxically highlights the inherent sharpness and coldness of punk rock. It can be said that their music is truly worthy of the name "slow and sad hardcore".
Most of their songs evoke the severe cold of a freezing winter, as symbolized by their album titles and cover arts of "Frigid Stars" and "The White Birch".
Also, most of the lyrics sung in those songs imply bleak motifs such as loss, regret, or isolation, and the resignation to grievous and helpless circumstances is dispassionately described in abstract words.
In those works, this "Broken-Hearted Wine" is almost the only one melodious song that reminds the warmth of spring. It's like the sentimentalism that should have been denied couldn't be suppressed, and has leaked out from the inside. However, that's why the music has an earnestness that resonates with our twisted sensibilities.
The song appeared on the B-side of the original single "Realize" released in 1992. It seems to have been a live staple, the live version can also be listened to in "The John Peel Sub Pop Sessions 1989-1993", which is a compilation of live studio performances by Sub Pop bands for the late John Peel's show on BBC Radio.
By the way, several parts of the lyrics mentioned at the beginning of this article are in parentheses: such as "her (his)" and "boy (girl)". That's because the genders of the characters being spoken to are interchanged in the live version. My English skill doesn't allow me to understand the fine nuances and correct intentions, but maybe it was intended to emphasize the cross-gender friendship and compassion.
The lyrics are also unusual for them, a very common theme heartbreak is described in a specific story. And yet, it never feels uncomfortable, I think it's because this song is focusing on the other person's sadness, never showing off own loneliness narcissistically in an exaggerated way.
I remember Japanese Enka singer Aki Yashiro once said on TV, "Songs are for the people who listen to them, so I don't put my own emotions into the lyrics when I sing." This was a comment about her own artisan stance as a singer, comparing to some singers who say cheesy things like "I never sing unless the lyrics can be empathized with." I feel that Codeine's sound which is sad but never mawkish has something common to her graciousness.
Come to think of it, the sad lyrics and slow tempo of Enka are similar to slowcore/sadcore on that point...… In fact, Stephen said in later interviews that "I always listening to a Japanese singer Wada Akiko." So I want fans of Aki Yashiro and Akiko Wada to try listening to this Codeine's song as well hehe.
Slowcore/sadcore is just a minor genre, unlike grunge which has made its mark on music history. In spite of that, Codeine's unique sound earned high praise and a strong following that big names such as Peter Buck of REM and Greg Sage of The Wipers told to be fans. In particular, they have had no small influence on the post-hardcore bands they were close to at the time, such as Bastro, Rodan, and Bitch Magnet, as well as the Chicago area post-rock bands that grew out of them, such as Tortoise and Gastr Del Sol.
In fact, Tara Jane O'Neil, a talented woman also known as a painter, covered "Broken-Hearted Wine" in Retsin, the duo she formed after Rodan broke up. Also, the Boston-based chaotic hardcore band CAVE IN took their name from Codeine’s song "Cave-In". In addition, a band from Norway named White Birch also emerged among the later slowcore followers.
- provided courtesy of iTunes
The most symbolic thing is respect from Mogwai, a leading UK post-rock band. They have professed their musical influence from Codeine and also released the original drummer Chris' solo album "Incredible Love" on their own label Rock Action.
Furthermore, In 2012, Mogwai offered Codeine to perform at ATP I'll be your mirror, a rock festival Mogwai curated. Even though Codeine had turned down those offers until then, but at the same time, Chicago-based collector's label Numero Group decided to release a box set including all of Codeine's reissues and unreleased material, called "When I See the Sun"!
However, their reunion was only limited since Stephen and John have already left the music industry and work in other fields. They played less than 20 live shows in the US and EU tour. Also here in Japan, they were scheduled to play at ATP festival curated by Jim O'Rourke, formerly of Gastr Del Sol, but the event itself was canceled……. By the last show in New York City where they formed the band, they have once again brought the curtain down on their activities.
Codeine was not a commercially successful band, and may not be listed in the rock music textbooks. Even so, I believe that their unique music, which is quietly standing outside the trends of the music scene and its associated context, is still worth listening to, even regardless of any historical significance or meaning.
Lastly, I'd like to share their music clip, which was uploaded on youtube with the members' permission. Please be sure to enjoy it while paying attention to a sticker on the base that is reflected in the last scene. You would feel a sense of familiarity with them.
“Loss Leader" from their 2nd/final album “The White Birch”
I was actually planning to start this blog in April, but May was over while I was dillydallying. On the contrary, it's already July now that I’ve finally finished English translation. As a result, the season no longer matches what I wrote…… omg
However, even over such a slack motherfucker like me, the punk rock which Codeine played slowly casts a sad warmth with an unchanging vividness in the days passing by so fast.
Addendum:
In September 2022, Numero Group suddenly released "Dessau," a collection of previously unreleased material recorded at Harold Dessau Recording in June 1992, just before Chris left the band, but discarded and put on hold due to sound problems. Many of the songs were later re-recorded, but the originals were finally released to the world for the first time after a lapse of 30 years.
Numero Group also announced that the label's 20th anniversary will be celebrated in February 2023 in Los Angeles, and Codeine will perform along with Doug's band Rex and the Olympian art-rock band Unwound, Stephen, John, and Chris reunited after 11 years.
According to Stephen, this reunion will also be limited, but unexpectedly, the other members have expressed a desire to be active, and live shows have been going on for longer than expected. Possibly, one day we will be able to listen to a new work.
And what a surprise! In April 2024, 35 years after their formation, their first Japan tour is coming to be realized! It has been announced that they will perform 4 shows in 3 cities, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nagoya.
I have never thought this day would come...... I am now looking forward to enjoying plenty of matured broken-hearted wine, in the spring time.
References:
L.A. RECORD「CODEINE: KIND OF CAT FRIENDLY」
blurredvisionary「Codeine: The Welcomed and Unexpected Relapse of “Slowcore”」
DAVID RAT'S BLOG: "RAT BITES"「Doug Scharin, Codeine, and The White Birch interview」
Brooklyn Vegan「An interview with Codeine (who play Bell House TONIGHT)」
SOUL KITCHEN「[1990-2020] DIX CACHETS DE CODEINE」
self-titled「THE SELF-TITLED INTERVIEW: James Plotkin vs. Codeine」
Ptchfork「Codeine: Frigid Stars/Barely Real EP/The White Birch Album Review」
The New York Times「Grunge’s Estranged, Desolate Cousins」
- provided courtesy of iTunes
