Morphine

Morphine was an alternative rock group formed by Mark Sandman and Dana Colley in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, in 1989.

Critically-acclaimed for their innovative music and unique instrumentation, Morphine combined blues and jazz elements with more traditional rock arrangements, giving the band a very unusual sound. Sandman's distinctive singing was described as a "deep, laid-back croon"¹, and his songwriting featured a prominent beatnik influence.

When asked by reporters to describe their music, Sandman labeled it "Low Rock". One critical appraisal suggests that "Morphine immediately established a minimalist, low-end sound that could have easily become a gimmick: a 'power trio' not built around the sound of an electric guitar. Instead, with sly intelligence, Morphine expanded its offbeat vocabulary on each album."²

Morphine were formed ...