Kevin Bronson on June 8th, 2017

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Coco is the name for the music of songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Cody Borden, who moved to L.A. during the heyday of the Silver Lake/Spaceland scene to play drums in a band. Since then, he’s played in several others and worked as part of a collective writting string arrangements, including for recordings by Kate Nash and Draco Rosa and for live performances by the likes of Henry Wolfe, Captain and Holland, Ferraby Lionheart and Charlie Wadhams. His own songs have remained in the background until recently, when he dusted off some demos and finished five songs with engineer/drummer Cassidy Turbin (Thurston Moore, Dwight Yokum, Steven Malkmus, Beck). They were recorded live with contributions from Chris Null (Mondo Cozmo, ex-Dead Sara) and other friends. A guest gospel singer, and, yes, strings were involved.

Coco’s newly remodeled bedroom recordings demonstrate a marvelous flair for old-school pop, starting with “Cut Right Through.” If the starburst of strings don’t put pleats in your dress, Coco’s spoken, boy-next-door vocals, along with the harmonies, will. “Cure” is winsome, deconstructed doo-wop, and “Good Vibe” echoes a slightly later era, with our hilariously hapless protagonist, amidst plucked strings and crunchy guitars, longing for what he does not have: “Gotta gotta find a good vibe / gotta find a nice wife / She’ll have a perfect body / She’ll say she thinks I’m really lousy.”

Coco has no plans currently to officially release his EP’s worth of tunes, but stay tuned.

||| Stream: Five songs from Coco