Barely Real is an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 by slowcore band Codeine

Codeine (band)

Codeine was an American indie rock/slowcore band formed in 1989. They released two full-length albums — Frigid Stars in 1990 and The White Birch in 1994.-History:...

. It was released on Sub Pop

Sub Pop

Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...

 in 1992. While the EP retains most of the stylistic elements of debut Frigid Stars

Frigid Stars

Frigid Stars is the debut album by New York indie rock/slowcore band Codeine. It was released in August 1990 on Glitterhouse in Europe and in Spring 1991 on Sub Pop in the US. The album was released to generally positive reviews and is regarded as being one of the pioneering albums in the slowcore...

, some new sounds are introduced, notably on "W.", which features solo atonal piano played by David Grubbs

David Grubbs

David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....

 (of Bastro

Bastro

Bastro was an American post-hardcore band in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's main line-up consisted of David Grubbs on guitar, Clark Johnson on bass guitar, and John McEntire on drums.-History:...

, Squirrel Bait

Squirrel Bait

Squirrel Bait was an American punk band from Louisville, Kentucky. They were in existence from 1983 to 1988. Squirrel Bait's dense, moody, melodic hardcore sound, featuring pronounced tempo shifts, foreshadowed the grunge sound of the late 1980s as well as math rock...

 and Gastr del Sol

Gastr del Sol

Gastr del Sol was a Chicago band consisting, for most of their career, of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Between 1993 and 1998 they put out seven albums ranging in genre from post-rock to musique concrète....

). A full band version of the track, titled "Wird", would appear on the band's final album The White Birch

The White Birch

The White Birch is the second and final album by the New York band Codeine. Released in April 1994, the album is considered to be the band's best album and a clear influence on Low, among other bands.-Background:...

. Additional tracks were recorded in the same session, but were rejected by Immerwahr. Some of these tracks were re-recorded for The White Birch. An alternative version of "Realize" was released as a 7" single (limited to 2,933 copies) on clear and white vinyl, backed with "Broken-Hearted Wine"

Track listing

All songs written by Codeine, except "Promise of Love", written by MX-80 Sound.

1. "Realize" – 5:04
2. "Jr" – 3:08
3. "Barely Real" – 3:13
4. "Hard To Find" – 3:18
5. "W." – 4:53
6. "Promise Of Love" – 5:13

Personnel

• Chris Brokaw
  Chris Brokaw
  Chris Brokaw is an American musician, mostly known for his work with the bands Come and Codeine.While studying at Oberlin College, Brokaw met many people who became figures on the American indie rock scene of the 1990s, among them Stephen Immerwahr, who formed Codeine with Brokaw, as well as...
  
   (drums, guitar)
• John Engle (guitar)
• Stephen Immerwahr (bass guitar, vocals)
• Jon Fine ('noisy guitar' on "Jr")
• David Grubbs
  David Grubbs
  David Grubbs , guitarist, pianist, and vocalist, was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale Community Singers....
  
  (arrangement and piano on "W.")