Review: Kodaline sounds a lot like Coldplay on "Coming Up For Air" (Grade: B-minus)

Apologies if this is the umpteenth review of Kodaline’s “Coming Up For Air” to make the Coldplay comparison. The similarities are unmistakable.

From the warbly falsetto “woo hoos” to the extended “whoas,” Kodaline lead singer Steve Garrigan sings so much like Coldplay’s Chris Martin that you half expect him to break out a chorus of “Hurts Like Heaven.” In fact, “Coming Alive,” one of the better songs on “Coming Up For Air,” is a close cousin to “Hurts Like Heaven.”

And it’s not only Garrigan’s voice that makes Kodaline sound so much like Coldplay. The music’s structure is quite similar, as well, particularly on the slower-paced tunes that heavily populate “Coming Up For Air.” There’s also a bit of a Snow Patrol sound in Kodaline, brought out by producer Jacknife Lee, who just happens to have worked with Snow Patrol.

Comparisons to Coldplay and Snow Patrol would scare off most music snobs. And many critics have panned “Coming Up For Air.”

To be sure, the Dublin band’s sophomore LP isn’t a particularly good record. But it has just enough sneakingly catchy choruses, and a few production gimmicks, to make it a decent effort.

“Honest” is a startlingly good and confident single, which builds to a killer chorus in, well, the style of Coldplay. “Unclear” is an average ballad enhanced greatly by an effectively employed children’s choir. And “Human Again” weaves a verse that sounds a lot like The Cars in the mid-1980s with a soaring chorus.

There are enough plodding, cliched pop ballads (“The One” and “Everything Works Out In The End” chief among them) to keep the record from breaking into the good category. But it’s decent enough ... kind of like Coldplay for the past few years.