Tim Darcy can sing. Properly sing. And Cola's stunning third album, Cost of Living Adjustment, proves it.
The Canadian art-punk trio—featuring guitarist/vocalist Darcy, bassist Ben Stidworthy, and drummer Evan Cartwright—has built its reputation on dystopian guitar grooves and the slow death of dreams under capitalism. On their latest, reviewed by Rolling Stone, they've committed fully.
"When the catchiest tune on a rock record is called 'Conflagration Mindset,' you know this is a band that's not going to give you any happy endings," Rolling Stone writes.
The standout "Hedgesplitting" opens the album with sampled hip-hop drum loops layered over live drums, shoegaze shimmer that channels Ride and the Cure in equal measure. Darcy explores the "split vision" of becoming an adult you don't recognize—or even like—asking: "Back to beginnings? Was it ever not this way?"
Darcy and Stidworthy emerged from their Montreal outfit Ought, and after two solid albums (2022's Deep In View and 2024's The Gloss), they're operating at full throttle. Where Cola used to insinuate, they now go for the throat.
The band name is a political statement: C.O.L.A. stands for Cost of Living Adjustment—a jab wrapped in a soda-pop wrapper. On their debut, they called soda "a beverage bound by laws older than man to poison most ordinary life on earth." Now they channel that same dark humour across nine tracks of indie rock.
Critics call it their best work. Darcy's vocals—those actual, proper melodies—are reason enough to listen.
