Review by AVA LIVERSIDGE
Montreal-based indie rockers Cola continue to carve out their niche on their second full-length release The Gloss, out now. The three-piece postpunkers composed of Tim Darcy (guitar, vocals), Ben Stidworthy (bass), and Evan Cartwright (drums) formed Cola as one of many projects alongside various other bands and prolific studio musician work for Quebec-based outfits.
Cola hosted a virtual listening party earlier this week to give Bandcamp subscribers an album preview. They cite Silver Jews’ David Berman’s “poetry-via-garage light” pieces and UK New Wave’s sound as vanguards to this project.
On single “Albatross,” their almost-punk austerity comes through in full. The metallic march of repeated chords pair with characteristically terse lyrical delivery. Unlike much of the punk precedent, however, Cola’s lyrics are not written to fade into the mix, overpowered by the pangs of a fuzzed out guitar track: “Broad strokes to consider / what an image costs /I fetishize an ancient mind / To forget my albatross.”
Lead single “Pallor Tricks” is the closest we get to a pop-rock track, sounding like a cross between the Stooges and Strokes. Here, the band embodies an art deco aesthetic—controlled primitiveness. The trio boasts well-trained musicians who have excelled in a breadth of genres. The fact that they’ve chosen to explore a genre that historically requires a lower bar of instrumental tact has no bearing on The Gloss.
Single “Bitter Melon,” both the genesis of the album’s title—the Gloss apparently being another term for commentary used in the track—and the most instrumentally intricate single, quickly jolts listeners to attention. Cola lyrics reward the esoteric listener. Their lyrics range from ironic indictments of the sad state of our social affairs to moments of unique earnestness. You just have to wade through some post-punk zealotry.
Check out Cola and their new album ‘The Gloss’ here:
