It’s hard to knock an album that attributes its qualities to some of music’s most refined songwriters. Kodiak is the first exhibit in this museum-like collection of rock subgenres, the second release from Jack Cooper of Mazes and James Hoare of Veronica Falls. It opens with a dawdling riff ripped from Stephen Malkmus, before the nervous shuffle of (I’ve Got The) Sanctioned Blues recalls Graham Coxon at his most melodic and neurotic. Break the Chain’s vocals meander wistfully, reminiscent of the Beatles’ In My Life. Most overwhelming is the influence of the Velvet Underground’s self-titled third LP – but unlike the Velvets, a community of visionaries immersed in a world of sex and heroin, this is just two blokes making tunes in a bedroom. Still, there’s little evidence the duo had a mission to make the album of a lifetime. It’s more of a heavenly-sounding hobby.
