The Kundalini Target,
Steve Cradock's first album outside
Ocean Colour Scene, isn't remarkably dissimilar from his main band, not in its feel, tone, or touchstones, as it recalls almost every album
OCS cut after
Moseley Shoals, along with many of the
Paul Weller albums that feature
Cradock on guitar. There are subtle differences, particularly in how
The Kundalini Target never rocks as hard as
OCS did during their '90s prime. Instead, it shares a mellow, reflective bent with
Weller's 2008 album 22 Dreams, but where the Modfather chronicled the seasons of life,
Cradock is primarily concerned with reckoning with fatherhood, with the whole affair beginning as a song to his children. From such small beginnings, the project flowered into a sweetly intimate album, recalling the pastoral moments of
Traffic crossed with
Ronnie Lane's ramshackle folk, but most of all it recalls all of
Cradock's other work, right down to how he sounds uncannily like Simon Fowler. So, it's the small details that matter with
The Kundalini Target, especially in how it's infused with the loving paternal feel that emanates from the roots of the project, which gives the album considerable warmth and explains why it's a solo album, not another
Ocean Colour Scene record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine