Cola - Cost of Living Adjustment Review
A return that sharpens Cola’s minimalism while letting Tim Darcy’s writing drift between abstraction and stark clarity.
Nobody catches and stretches a vowel sound to the point it takes on a gooey reverence in quite the same way that Tim Darcy does. For the first three quarters of single ‘Hedgesitting’ the singer’s voice slams around the track like a bookish Frank Black fronting The Smashing Pumpkins, had they aimed to fill sweaty dive bars rather than stadiums. Darcy then expands his chorus until it burns through a squall of shoegazing guitars. ‘Hedgesitting’ is nostalgia and foreboding in equal doses. In the crest of summer, young dreams of “making it” give way to visions of a scorched earth: an uncomfortable tryst of making plans in the face of certain disaster.
For a band returning after two albums of spartan experiments in thrift and necessity, such a maximalist return was a thrilling shock. Yet, for the most part C.O.L.A. contains the coherent, uncluttered post-punk arrangements that are the band’s M.O. Songs like ‘Skywriter’s Sigh’ and ‘Forced Position’ whizz by in a jaunt of treble heavy guitars and drummer Evan Cartwright’s unyielding dominance over his drum kit. Cartwright’s style is unique in the way it is simultaneously a relentless, motorik driving force of Cola’s music, yet also polite sounding, rarely coming to the forefront of the mix. Ben Stidworthy’s bass reliably bubbles beneath the surface, occasionally coming up for air to become the main riff as on ‘Polished Knives’ which, with its acerbic guitar, sits somewhere in between Wombo and Dry Cleaning.
Those familiar with Cola’s work will recognise the sounds that come from this record, but additional time in the studio with regular producer Valentin Ignat has added texture in the form of subtle keys that twinkle and wince in and out of songs to give them greater depth. There is greater versatility within the songs, too: several begin upright and focused before puncturing into a pensive haze. ‘Fainting Spells’ ticks along with crisp acoustic guitar and plucked bass notes until it tumbles into a tousle of thrashing guitars. Similarly, ‘Haveluck Country’ is held up by a rigid guitar riff before dropping like a dust cloud over a scuffed rhythm section. It is as if the songs embody the duality seen on ‘Hedgesitting’ and are gradually ground down by reality, seeking solace in a dizzy maze instead.
Which brings us to Darcy’s lyrics which are often confounding. They are either playfully cryptic, full of hidden meanings and subtle wordplay, like, for example, his onomatopoeic drawl on ‘Third Double’ which dissolves into plumes of exhaust fume guitars as he barks “Bartok, don’t call me back”. Or his lyrics are exact and illuminating. Darcy is at his most earnest on the dislocated buzz of ‘Conflagration Mindset’ which tackles loss with a weary clarity and shines a light on where the dread ‘Hedgesitting’ points towards comes from. In January 2025, a spate of wildfires blazed through Southern California and incinerated 14,000 homes, including Darcy’s. His sketches of the aftermath of that traumatic event are heartbreaking because of their intimacy: holed up in temporary accommodation, drinking beer out of a plastic cup and wondering if there is “some way to save the records.”
The other place where Darcy’s lyrics are at their clearest is on ‘Favoured Over the Ride’, where the band hits their collective stride. Cola’s output has proven their ability to wring every drop out of their minimalist setup. But they are at their best when striking an emotional note while chewing on a philosophical nub. They first did it on their debut, with the song ‘Water Table’ and they do it again on ‘Favoured Over The Ride’. It is a song that jangles with chords borrowed from The Kinks’s ‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’ that continue to ring out over a looping bassline. On it Darcy sounds melancholic as he debates pulling in to settle for a “decent nowhere, some reprieve”. It is the Talking Heads ‘Road to Nowhere’ but imagined as if the road starts to look less open and walking it less defiant. Though the song doesn’t close with a resignation, instead it serves to remind that neither optimism nor pessimism are a given, rather a conscious decision to be made again and again.