Codeine - The White Birch [2LP+CD]

“The final Codeine release, The White Birch, finds the band stretching out more beyond its usual style here and there, while still pretty much sounding like it always has. It’s not quite a case of “heard one, heard them all,” but at points, it’s hard to see how they would have continued without completely repeating themselves. There is a slight change in the lineup, with Douglas Scharin replacing Chris Brokaw, at that time fully involved with Come, on drums, while David Grubbs once again guests, playing guitar on “Tom” and “Wird.” He’s not fully noticeable on either track per se, but his playing doesn’t take away anything from the overall mood or performance either. John Engle’s own lead guitar work here often has a stronger, stentorian sense of playing than before, in part resulting from the greater sense of space in a number of songs. While there was a relative calm on moments of Frigid Stars, here there’s even more of it — it’s not quite relaxed, but allows more stripped-down moment