US post-punk / post-rock legends!
Chris Brokaw was a founding member of Codeine, the band that kicked off the Slowcore scene in the late 80’s. He left Codeine to form Come with Thalia Zedek. He now drums in The New Year, and plays guitar for Thurston Moore, Evan Dando and a wealth of other high achieving acts. His recent solo LP ‘Incredible Love’ is a genuine lost classic – little known, but loved by everyone who owns it.
Geoff Farina is best known for his 12 years with Karate, a band whose early records were clearly influenced by Brokaw’s Codeine. Farina’s charismatic voice, and versatile guitar playing are also heard on a number of excellent solo albums, and as one-half of Secret Stars, the seminal early-90s duo that passed around home-made cassettes of songs now covered by the likes of Ida and Death Cab for Cutie. He now fronts Glorytellers.
Chris and Geoff met within the small Boston music scene, when Geoff used to go see Codeine and Come play. They once played in a band together called Back Knife Spot way back in 1988.
Chris Brokaw: “A few years ago, Geoff and I were approached by a midwest hardcore label and asked to do a split LP. we asked them if it would be okay for us to do a project together, instead, and they said that that was fine. I invited Geoff over to my house to do some playing – having no idea what we’d play; I had no new songs at the time. Geoff walked into my bedroom, saw a Blind Blake boxset on a shelf and said, “Do you listen to that stuff?” I said “Yes, i do” and he said “That’s all I’ve been listening to lately”. So we sat down and played a few Blind Blake songs, and some Reverend Gary Davis songs, and within half an hour we’d decided that that’s what this record should be.”
They went on to record ‘The Angel’s Message to Me‘, their first studio collaboration as a duo and toured together in 2009. They released a second album, a limited edition tour CD ‘The Boarder’s Door’ in conjunction with an extensive tour across Europe in late 2010.
