A six-song EP that appeared between the two albums proper, without sharing any songs with either,
Barely Real
essentially extends the same musical and lyrical spirit of
Frigid Stars
with a couple of slight but intriguing changes woven in. Admittedly, that won't be apparent on the first song,
"Realize,"
which fully confirms that
Codeine
's combination of deliberate pace and electric guitar playing, along with a softly sung rumination courtesy of
Stephen Immerwahr
, is pretty much its compositional mode rather than affectation. Those put off by earlier
CDs won't want to continue; those taken by the band's way of doing things will happily embrace it. From there,
makes its careful way over about 25 minutes, with some guest performers popping up to leaven things. One
Jon Fine
adds "noisy guitar" to the mix on
"Jr.,"
with a quick, stuttering main riff to its credit, while
David Grubbs
contributes both piano and arrangement for
"W."
It's a highlight of
, essentially a
Grubbs
solo performance, but still sounds exactly like something
would write. Other high points include the echo and burying in the mix of
Immerwahr
's voice on
"Hard to Find,"
and the slightly surprising conclusion, a cover of
MX-80 Sound
's
"Promise of Love"
done in a bit of a late-night jazz club style with more typical
interjections towards the end. ~ Ned Raggett