There was a point a few years back where I was constantly comparing all of the new music from Cola, the Montreal post-punk stalwarts, to their previous band, Ought. It was hard not to, since I was a fan of basically everything Ought did. And while Cola was pushing the genre-shifting envelope with their debut album Deep In View and the follow-up, The Gloss, I couldn’t get the thought ‘Well, this is good, but it’s not Ought,’ out of my mind. It was unfair and probably influenced my reviews, but it was impossible to shake.
Well, now on this third album, Cost Of Living Adjustment, I have finally shaken it. This new 11-song album is inventive and nostalgic, perhaps for a shoegazey, janglish post-punk sound from the ’90s, but also Cola’s own flavour of music. I’ve always loved Tim Darcy’s vocal style, these inner ramblings about anxiety that stray the line between poetic and imprecise monologues, but he’s never been as direct as in ‘Hedgesitting,” a reverb-soaked omen about the dissonance of younger and naïve days.
The guitar work on “Fainting Spells” is also quite majestic, jumping between a sporadic jangle pop and an almost Cure-ish goth vibe. “Haveluck Country” also has this motorik instrumental, which feels like slowed-down hammer-ons that give everything a very hypnotic vibe. Later on, “Favoured Over The Ride” contends with being Cola’s best structured song, almost giving a bit of Interpol under discordant jangle pop and this flowery synth line that is so, so catchy. Yes, Cost Of Living Adjustment is probably going to be my go-to Cola.
